Analyst: Presence of Cabinet Secretary Teddy at Various Events is Normal and Part of His Role

Political communication analyst Hendri Satrio, or Hensa, stated that the presence of Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, or Seskab Teddy, at various field activities of officials or ministers in the Merah Putih Cabinet is entirely normal. He said that ministers or officials need not feel burdened by this.

Hensa made this comment after Seskab Teddy was seen accompanying the Minister of Transportation, Dudy Purwagandhi, in monitoring the return flow of Eid travellers in 2026. For Hensa, Teddy’s presence is normal and even worthy of appreciation.

Hensa assessed that Seskab Teddy is most likely just wanting to ensure that government programmes are running as they should and truly benefiting the people. This intention, in his view, does not need to be exaggerated or suspected.

“Teddy might just want to make sure the programmes are running well and having a positive impact on the people,” he said.

He also reminded ministers not to have the wrong perception of Seskab’s presence itself. If ministers start seeing Teddy as an extension of President Prabowo Subianto’s eyes in the field, what happens is not performance improvement, but rather image-building.

“Seskab Teddy is everywhere. This is good, but I’m worried that ministers might create AsKabPi programmes—just to make Seskab happy, so that Seskab only reports the good things to the President,” said Hensa in his statement on Wednesday (25/3/2026).

Furthermore, Hensa emphasised that the function of the Cabinet Secretary indeed includes coordination and supervision of government operations. Teddy’s presence in the field, including during the Eid monitoring, is truly part of that role, so it is not an anomaly that needs to be feared.

“I think Teddy just wants to make sure everything is running well. That’s his job. The problem arises if the ministers become paranoid and play it safe,” he concluded.