Prabowo Holds Five Meetings Discussing Middle East Conflict to Mudik Preparations
Jakarta — President Prabowo Subianto convened a series of meetings with several ministers of the Red and White Cabinet at his private residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, on Sunday, 8 March 2026, to discuss higher education, Idul Fitri holiday preparations, and geopolitical matters relating to the Middle East.
According to the Presidential Secretariat, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya explained that Prabowo led five separate meetings from afternoon through the evening.
“On Sunday afternoon through evening, President Prabowo Subianto held five separate meetings, summoning several ministers from the Red and White Cabinet at his Hambalang residence in Bogor, West Java, on 8 March 2026,” Teddy stated in a written statement.
The series of meetings was attended by the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Brian Yuliarto, Minister of Defence Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Deputy Minister of Defence Donny Ermawan, Rector of Defence University Anton Nugroho, and Chief Executive Director of PT Pindad Sigit Santosa.
The first issue discussed concerned progress in developing ten new campuses focused on strengthening science and technology sectors.
“Progress in developing ten new campuses in the field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and medical education,” he noted.
Subsequently, Prabowo also requested reports regarding efforts to enhance the quality of state universities to enable them to compete at the global level and expand cooperation with renowned international universities.
“Developments in the Middle East situation were linked to geopolitical escalation in Indonesia,” Teddy said.
Another topic discussed in the meeting was progress on educational programmes for Palestinian students in Indonesia, particularly those studying at Defence University.
According to Teddy, when serving as Minister of Defence, Prabowo previously invited 20 to 40 Palestinian children to study in Indonesia, a number that has now grown to nearly 200 students.
Beyond education and geopolitical matters, Prabowo also requested reports on government readiness to manage the anticipated rise in Idul Fitri holiday travel expected to increase in the coming days.
“Preparedness regarding security and smooth travel operations as the 10 days preceding Idul Fitri approach,” Teddy clarified.
Through this series of strategic meetings, Prabowo underscored the importance of cross-ministerial coordination to ensure various national priority agenda items of the government can operate optimally, ranging from strengthening education and technology mastery, responding to global geopolitical dynamics, to readiness ahead of Idul Fitri celebrations.