DPD Member Says Prabowo's Speech Puts Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution into Effect

Jakarta (ANTARA) – AA LaNyalla Mahmud Mattalitti, a member of the Regional Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia (DPD RI), said that President Prabowo Subianto’s speech in the DPR RI plenary session represents a concrete national effort to ground Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution in reality, particularly in the management of natural resources (SDA).

According to him, to date Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution has often been understood as constitutional rhetoric without concrete implementation. Therefore, he urged that the country return to the spirit of Article 33 of 1945, which is the ethos of the national economy.

‘President Prabowo has actualised and demonstrated political courage to restore state control over land, water, and natural wealth for the welfare of the people,’ he said in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to him, the President explicitly stated that mines, oil and gas, marine products, and forests must be managed by the state through professional state-owned enterprises. He judged this not merely as rhetoric, but as a strategic directive to bring Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution— which until now had seemed as display—down to the ground.

‘The President is by no means anti-foreign investment, but wants a fair playing field. The state must be the subject, not the object. This is a modern interpretation of Article 33. Collaboration while prioritising the people’s interests,’ he said.

LaNyalla said he is optimistic that President Prabowo’s steps will have a direct impact on the people’s welfare. With effective state control, he believes the proceeds from natural resources could be allocated to energy subsidies, village endowment funds, and even free public services.

However, he cautioned that implementation must be accompanied by transparent and corruption-free governance. He urged all parties, existing state institutions, and civil society to monitor this policy to prevent deviation on the ground.

Earlier, President Prabowo reiterated the obligation to implement the national economic blueprint in strict accordance with Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, to stop mismanagement of natural resources and to guarantee the prosperity of all the Indonesian people.

‘I want to emphasise today my belief that if we implement Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution properly, sincerely, and with consequences, our country will have enough resources to ensure Indonesia truly becomes a prosperous and just nation,’ the President said in his address to the DPR RI plenary session in Jakarta on Wednesday (20/5).

According to Prabowo, the founders of the nation laid out the economic foundation in a measured way based on long historical experience in resisting imperialism, and thus it should not be replaced by capitalism or neoliberalism.