Amien Rais Explains His Viral Video About Teddy
Chairman of the Ummat Party’s Shura Council, Amien Rais, has spoken out regarding his viral video in which he mentioned a special relationship between President Prabowo Subianto and Cabinet Secretary Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Indra Wijaya.
The video, which has now been removed from Amien Rais’s personal YouTube account, was criticised by the Minister of Communication and Digital, Meutya Hafid, for containing defamatory narratives.
During the National Deliberation of the Ummat Party in Yogyakarta on Saturday night, 2 May 2026, the former Chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly stated that his remarks in the video should be viewed as a form of citizens’ freedom to express opinions.
“I am confident that democracy functions well if the freedom to express opinions guaranteed by our Constitution is not restricted or silenced,” said Amien.
Amien assessed that as a democratic country, Indonesia should guarantee freedom of speech even if those opinions contradict the authorities or other groups.
Regarding his accusations of the relationship between Prabowo and Teddy exceeding professional boundaries, Amien admitted he had his own reasons.
“As for Teddy, I gathered information from various sources, from YouTube and various social media channels; I think it’s almost convincing that there is something very unusual about Mr Teddy,” he said.
That unusual something, according to Amien, is because Teddy is given excessive power by Prabowo.
“I see Teddy just sticking (clinging) to Mr Prabowo all the time. To the point that who determines the guests, which ministers, which generals can meet Mr Prabowo—it’s Teddy,” he stated.
For that reason, said Amien, to avoid becoming a bad stigma in society, Prabowo should give Teddy a different occupation or position. By not always sticking to Prabowo, Amien continued, Teddy would not interfere with his government.
“Teddy is actually just the Cabinet Secretary, but he acts as if he has the most authority, feeling more important than the cabinet secretary,” he said. “He can select guests, who can be received and who cannot.”
Amien claimed he heard directly from a coordinating minister who told him that the minister had difficulty meeting Prabowo because it was arranged by Teddy.
“The Coordinating Minister said, ‘Mas Amin, sometimes I want to meet the president but I can’t because Teddy says there’s no time or not yet,’” said Amien, imitating the minister.
In fact, said Amien, the minister knew Prabowo was at the Palace and he only needed about 5-10 minutes to meet to report his duties.
“This kind of thing becomes a blunder for Mr Prabowo’s leadership,” said Amien, who admitted he has not met Prabowo since he became president.
Amien also suggested that Teddy does not need to be punished, vilified, or discarded. “Just give him (Teddy) another job, replace him with someone who is not a burden. That’s all,” he said.
Regarding threats from the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) to take the video’s distributor to court, Amien responded casually. “I was told by legal experts that Komdigi has no right (to process legally),” he said.
According to Amien, the one entitled to prosecute his video is Cabinet Secretary Teddy himself.
“If it goes to court, I am very confident. I will ask for statements from several specialist doctors,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Communication and Digital Meutya Hafid previously stated that Amien Rais’s video statement dragging in the names of President Prabowo and Cabinet Secretary Teddy contains defamatory narratives and hate speech.
“The narrative built is an attempt to demean the dignity of the country’s highest leadership, lacks factual basis, and is part of an effort to provoke public unrest,” said Meutya Hafid in a written statement on Friday, 1 May 2026.
For Meutya, Amien Rais’s accusations have the potential to divide. She emphasised that the digital space is a space for exchanging ideas, not for producing hate content that attacks anyone’s dignity.