National Highlights of the Week: State Honors for Officials to Civil Servant Reserve Components

A number of political events drew public attention during the second week of February 2026. Officials in the Prabowo administration received state honors, ranging from universities to the national police chief. Another event in the spotlight was the Ministry of Defense’s plan to train civil servants as reserve components. Here are the three most popular stories on Tempo’s National channel during the second week of February.

1. State Honors Lavished on Officials

A number of Prabowo Subianto’s subordinates in the cabinet were awarded state honors. In the academic sphere, Minister of Culture Fadli Zon received an Honorary Professorship from the National University (Unas) on Wednesday, February 11, 2026. The honorary ceremony for Fadli Zon resulted in classes being suspended. Chairman of the Indonesian National Student Movement (GMNI) at Unas, Charlesius Rustam, suspected the university had planned to confer the honorary professorship while students were taking final exams—the aim being to prevent demonstrations. The suspicion grew when Charlesius and several students were barred from entering the campus to stage a protest rejecting the honorary professorship for Fadli Zon. Unas Rector El Amry Bermawi Putera said the conferral was based on academic considerations, tangible contributions, sustained service, and the national and international impact Fadli has achieved. Unas deemed Fadli Zon worthy and deserving of the honorary professorship.

State honors were also bestowed on senior National Police officials and leaders of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). During the inauguration and groundbreaking ceremony for SPPG facilities and a National Police Food Security Warehouse, Prabowo Subianto issued presidential decrees mandating honors for several of his officials. BGN Head Dadan Hindayana and Deputy National Police Chief Commissioner General Dedi Prasetyo received the Bintang Jasa Utama (First-Class Meritorious Star). Deputy BGN Head Inspector General (Ret.) Sonny Sanjaya along with two other deputies also received the Bintang Jasa Pratama (Second-Class Meritorious Star). Additionally, Prabowo awarded the Bintang Jasa Nararya (Third-Class Meritorious Star) to National Police Inspector General of Oversight Commissioner General Wahyu Widada, who also represented four other recipients. Several regional police chiefs also received honors, namely Jakarta Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector General Asep Edi Suheri and North Sumatra Police Chief Inspector General Wisnu Hermawan. The head of state also awarded the Satya Lencana Wirakarya (Service Medal for Distinguished Work) to 58 fish farmers, represented by Zaini Sidi. Prabowo also pledged to bestow a state honor on National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit, deeming the four-star police general worthy of the Bintang Mahaputera (Star of Mahaputera). “I asked him earlier whether he’d received one yet—he hadn’t. Well then, I’ll be the one to give it,” said the former Kopassus commander. According to Prabowo, bestowing honors on his subordinates brings him personal joy and serves as an expression of gratitude. He said he is not only a leader in the cabinet but also a father figure.

2. BEM UGM Chairman Terrorized After Speaking Out on Child Suicide in NTT

Tiyo Ardianto, chairman of the Student Executive Board (BEM) at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, was subjected to terror after protesting the Prabowo administration’s failure to guarantee children’s basic rights following a child’s suicide in East Nusa Tenggara. The protest took the form of an open letter sent to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN agency focused on protecting children’s rights, health, nutrition, and education worldwide. BEM sent the letter on February 6 in response to the tragedy of an elementary school student who took their own life in NTT, reportedly unable to afford a pen and school notebook costing less than Rp 10,000. Four days after BEM criticized Prabowo, Tiyo received a threatening WhatsApp message about kidnapping from a number with a UK country code. Besides the kidnapping threat, the harasser also sent messages accusing Tiyo of being a foreign agent and attention-seeker. “Foreign agent. Stop seeking the spotlight and peddling garbage narratives,” the message read. Tempo checked the number through the Getcontact app. The owner’s identity was not listed. According to Tiyo, besides receiving threats via WhatsApp, he was also followed by two individuals while at a café. The stalking occurred the day after the threats appeared. “They took photos and hurried away,” Tiyo said when contacted on Thursday, February 12, 2026. The House of Representatives condemned the acts of terror against the student activist. Commission X member Hilman Mufidi said the various forms of intimidation targeting Tiyo were nothing but an attempt to silence freedom of expression, as what Tiyo conveyed was a form of free speech protected by law. “But responding to this also requires an open heart and clear thinking. Every criticism of how the case is handled must be addressed wisely, not with terror,” said the National Awakening Party politician on Saturday, February 14, 2026.

3. Reserve Component Training for Civil Servants

The Ministry of Defense is preparing to conduct reserve component (komcad) training for 4,000 civil servants from central government ministries and agencies. The program is planned to begin in the first semester of 2026, starting in April. Head of the Reserve Component Center at the Ministry of Defense’s National Reserve Agency, Brigadier Hengki Yuda Setiawan, said training would last 1.5 months, with participants placed at various TNI education centers. “Some will be at air force, army, or navy facilities—it varies,” Hengki said when met at his office at the Ministry of Defense in Jakarta on Thursday, February 12, 2026. The six training locations include the National Defense Competency Center in Bogor, West Java; the TNI Doctrine, Education, and Training Development Command (Kodiklat) headquarters in South Tangerang, Banten; and the Jayakarta Military Command Base Regiment in East Jakarta. Others include the Army Health Education Center in East Jakarta; the Marine Brigade headquarters in Cilandak, South Jakarta; and the Air Force Language Center in East Jakarta. The reserve component training for 4,000 civil servants across 49 ministries and agencies will be conducted in phases. Participants will be divided into two waves of 2,000 each. The first wave will run from mid-April through June 2026, while the second wave will take place from early August through mid-September. Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Rini Widyantini stated that public services would not be disrupted despite thousands of civil servants undergoing reserve component training for two months, as not all civil servants would be participating in the Ministry of Defense’s April training. “Public services must remain the priority,” Rini said when contacted on Thursday, February 12, 2026.