Gerindra: Prabowo and Gibran Complement Each Other, Don't Dramatise
The Gerindra Party has affirmed that President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka complement one another, urging the public not to dramatise their relationship.
The statement was made by Gerindra’s Central Executive Board Chairman Bambang Haryadi in response to widespread discussion over Gibran’s seating position, which was not beside the president at a recent cabinet session. Bambang said he had received an explanation that the matter was purely a technical requirement, and that relations between the two remain perfectly fine.
“President Prabowo and Vice President Gibran complement each other in their work. They are always united,” said Bambang on Wednesday (22 July 2026).
Bambang said Prabowo has always given Gibran room to work, citing as an example Gibran’s frequent visits to the regions to absorb the aspirations of the people.
“Vice President Gibran travels around the regions to check whether government programmes are running properly or still need improvement, and to absorb the people’s aspirations on behalf of the President. That is a tangible form of unity between the President and the Vice President,” he said.
He therefore asked the public not to speculate excessively about the relationship between Prabowo and Gibran, stressing that the two complement each other in running the government.
“So do not dramatise it. The President and Vice President work in complement. There are parties who want to break their unity by framing provocative narratives. But we are confident the public will not be influenced,” said the Gerindra faction secretary in the House of Representatives.
As background, Prabowo held a plenary cabinet session attended by ministers, deputy ministers, heads of agencies, and presidential advisors and special envoys on Monday (20 July) at the State Palace in Jakarta. At the session, Prabowo’s table was placed in the centre facing the entire cabinet, which sat in a U-shaped formation.
The seating arrangement drew attention because Gibran did not sit beside Prabowo but was instead positioned among the ministers. This differed from previous cabinet sessions, where Gibran had been seated level with Prabowo.
Cabinet Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said the first plenary cabinet session of 2026 was used by the President as an opportunity to deliver evaluations and instructions directly to all cabinet members. On that occasion, Prabowo required the assistance of a teleprompter.
“Because he wanted to explain so many programmes — and, as you may have noticed, so many programmes had to be supported with data — he used an assistive device called a teleprompter,” he added.
Pras explained that this technical requirement was the reason for the change in the layout of Prabowo’s and Gibran’s tables, insisting there was nothing else the public needed to worry about.
“That answers the question about the layout. As you saw, the President was positioned in the centre. As for the Vice President’s position, in our view it was purely a technical matter — there is nothing else that needs to be of concern,” he said.