Academics Respond to Prabowo Dispatching MPR Speaker to Iran
Herdiansyah Hamzah, a lecturer in constitutional law at Mulawarman University, has highlighted the decision by President Prabowo Subianto to dispatch the Speaker of the MPR, Ahmad Muzani, to attend the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He stated that rather than understanding the relationship between the MPR and the President, Prabowo is demonstrating a lack of understanding regarding the positions of state institutions, including the functions of each element of power. “This decision is clearly erroneous,” said Herdiansyah when contacted on Wednesday, 8 July 2026.
According to him, Prabowo’s decision to send Ahmad Muzani indirectly clarifies the existence of political co-optation practices within state institutions. He continued that, genealogically, Muzani is indeed a member of the Gerindra Party, which is led by Prabowo. However, when a party member is entrusted to lead a state institution, party relations should not be taken into consideration.
“The President should understand that a member who has been assigned to lead a specific state institution cannot automatically be assigned on behalf of the institution and their party elements,” Herdiansyah remarked.
Contacted separately, Feri Amsari, a lecturer in constitutional law at Andalas University, held a different view. He stated that if Muzani’s assignment to Iran is in the context of representing the state, then the President has the right to appoint leaders of state institutions to represent the President’s position as Head of State.
With that consideration, he noted that appointing Muzani as a state representative is permissible, including for attending ceremonial activities such as the funeral of a world leader. “Unless it is in the context of the Head of Government. That cannot be done,” said Feri.
Yesterday, 7 July 2026, via a post on his Instagram account @ahmadmuzani, the Speaker of the MPR, Ahmad Muzani, conveyed that he and Foreign Minister Sugiono were sent by President Prabowo to attend the funeral procession of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Muzani claimed that his presence alongside Sugiono reflects the Indonesian nation’s concern over the death of Ali Khamenei following an attack launched by the United States and its allies, Israel, in February 2026.
“Our presence is an official representation of the government and all the people of Indonesia, who share in the grief over the passing of the Supreme Leader of Iran,” Muzani stated in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
The dispatch of Muzani to attend Ali Khamenei’s funeral has drawn scrutiny due to his position as Speaker of the MPR. The Deputy Speaker of the MPR, Bambang Wuryanto, also known as Bambang Pacul, stated that there is no mechanism that allows the President to issue orders to the Speaker of the MPR.
According to him, the relationship between the President and the MPR is a relationship between high state institutions that cannot command one another. A President, he said, can request the opinion of the MPR through consultative meetings but cannot issue direct commands.
“But if the President sends the Speaker of the MPR, I do not believe the mechanism works like that,” said the politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) at the DPR/MPR Complex, Jakarta, on Tuesday, 7 July 2026.