Prabowo: Impossible for Indonesia to Be Led by Only One Party

President Prabowo Subianto has spoken about the democratic system Indonesia has chosen in its national life. He made the remarks while delivering a speech at the closing of the 35th Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Congress at the Bahrul Ulum Tambakberas Islamic Boarding School multipurpose hall in Jombang, East Java, on Monday (31/8/2026).

“Democracy is our choice and our country is large. We are as big as Europe. In Europe there are more than 27 countries — more than 27 countries that are members of NATO or the European Union. There will be others that are not members. Perhaps the total is around 35. We are one country. We are very large,” he said.

According to Prabowo, the democratic system makes coalitions a necessity. Coalitions are needed to lead, govern and manage a country whose population will reach 300 million, the fourth largest in the world. Therefore, Prabowo continued, it is impossible for a country as large as Indonesia to be led by only one party.

“We now have eight parties, which is already remarkably efficient. Many other countries may have a dozen parties, dozens of parties,” Prabowo said.

“We see in Japan, although there are only two major parties, how many times has the prime minister changed in five to six years? In Britain, within five years there may have been seven or eight prime ministers,” he continued.

Furthermore, Prabowo said that government requires stability and calm. He noted that the coalition government he leads is large, with eight parties in parliament.