Denny JA: If Successful, Prabowo Will Be Remembered as the Father of the Nation's Self-Reliance
Denny JA: If Successful, Prabowo Will Be Remembered as the Father of the Nation’s Self-Reliance
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Jakarta, VIVA – Political commentator Denny JA stated that President Prabowo Subianto’s speech on 20 May 2026 was not merely an annual economic address, but a declaration of Indonesia’s new economic direction.
Denny JA delivered this statement in an essay published on Facebook Denny JA’s World and later circulated widely in various WhatsApp Groups.
According to Denny JA, the core of Prabowo’s speech was very clear: Indonesia is not poor because of a lack of natural resources, but because its wealth has leaked abroad for too long.
“This is Indonesia’s greatest paradox: a wealthy nation, yet many of its people have not enjoyed that wealth fairly,” said Denny JA as quoted on Friday 22 May 2026.
He described Indonesia as a ‘large house with a golden roof, but the floors leak in many corners’.
Denny JA assessed that Prabowo is steering Indonesia toward a nationalist economic model based on Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution.
The state, in his view, wants to return to being the main director of strategic economy. Not to kill the market, but to ensure the market works for national interests.
“This is not classical socialism, but a middle ground. The market remains alive, but the state must ensure that national wealth does not continue to leak,” wrote Denny JA.
In his speech, Prabowo pointed out that over 22 years Indonesia recorded a trade surplus of about USD 436 billion, but around USD 343 billion flowed back out of the country.
On average, the leakage amounted to about USD 15.6 billion per year, or about Rp265 trillion per year.
There is also an estimated loss from under-invoicing practices over 34 years said to amount to USD 908 billion or about Rp15,400 trillion.
The leakage data, according to Denny JA, refers to the official speech of President Prabowo on 20 May 2026, which processed notes from BPS, Bank Indonesia, and the Ministry of Finance over the last two decades.
“This is not merely a small leak. It is a big hole in the national economic structure,” said Denny JA.
Denny JA says Prabowo’s economic direction is very close to the East Asian developmental state concept.
He cited Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, which became advanced industrial countries not merely because of free markets, but because the state was actively present: selecting strategic sectors, building national industry, directing investment, protecting young industries, and promoting technology transfer.