ITB Students’ Association Demands to the Prabowo Administration

KM ITB rejects politicisation and co-option of Indonesian campuses by the Prabowo Subianto administration. They also demand the right to safeguard the intellectual space of campus life.

This demand followed the participation of several ministers and politicians in a seminar addressing ‘Prabowonomics’ at ITB. Farell Faiz, president of KM ITB, said the event did not involve all students and thereby closed off the intellectual space and debates that should be alive on campus.

‘Prabowonomics is merely a stage for officials to gain legitimacy from ITB,’ Faiz told reporters on Friday, 6 March 2026.

On that basis, KM ITB held a consolidation with other student groups to reject the politicised agenda on campus. More than that, they fear the line between intellectual space and politics is becoming blurred.

‘Disrupting the space for knowledge disrupts humanity’s progress,’ he said.

In addition, KM ITB also urged President Prabowo to evaluate policies by taking strategic steps that are pro-people and pro-sovereignty. KM ITB, Faiz said, called on the government to rebuild the institutions of national security to fit civilian needs and interests. This includes playing an active role in safeguarding the sovereignty of the whole world, with particular emphasis on Palestine.

Faiz said his organisation also demands Prabowo be held accountable for ecological disasters occurring in the country. ‘(The evaluation) should begin with stating current conditions, response, the formation of research, and mitigation planning,’ he said.

KM ITB also demands Prabowo’s government establish economic justice for all Indonesians, including redrawing Indonesia’s education system to focus on welfare and the emancipation from civil oppression.