Indicator: A Warning for the Bureaucracy

JAKARTA — Bawono Kumoro, a researcher at Indikator Politik Indonesia, has described President Prabowo Subianto’s recent warning delivered during Danantara’s one-year commemoration as a sharp rebuke to Indonesia’s bureaucracy. The President’s message was loud and clear: do not dare to deceive the state.

“The President’s warning directly targets one of the long-standing sources of problems within Indonesia’s government bureaucracy, namely the mentality of doing whatever pleases the leadership by submitting false reports,” said Bawono.

According to him, Indonesia’s government bureaucracy has long been accustomed to presenting polished reports with manipulated figures designed to make everything appear to be running smoothly on the ground. However, field reality frequently tells a starkly different or opposite story. Budgets remain unabsorbed and programmes fail to progress as targeted and expected.

At this juncture, the President’s stern warning becomes highly relevant. The state becomes extremely vulnerable when a president as the executive decision-maker is surrounded by false data and information.