Prabowo: Indonesia Is Under Heavy Attack

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — President Prabowo Subianto said Indonesia was being strongly attacked through various channels as its prospects of becoming a powerful, developed country grew.

“Ladies and gentlemen, whenever Indonesia rises, our nation is attacked hard,” Prabowo said at the opening of a plenary Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (21 October 2026).

“The existence of the Indonesian nation is truly unwelcome to certain nations in the world. We have been troubled ever since we came into being,” he stressed.

Prabowo said this was because Indonesia was exceptionally rich in natural resources. If those resources were managed well, he said, the country’s potential to achieve its ‘Golden Indonesia’ vision would become much greater.

“The Nusantara is extraordinarily rich. Our wealth has been plundered for years, for hundreds of years. I have already proved this to you, and there is no need to repeat the historical data. It confirms that our archipelago has always been a target for the forces of countries seeking to take our wealth,” he said.

Prabowo stressed that the measures taken during his two years in office were in the people’s interests. The government, he said, must not be too naïve in dealing with the situation or act merely to please others.

“We are now being forced to choose whether to face difficulties and reality. The essence of it is to save the nation’s wealth and the Indonesian people,” he said.

If the country simply continued with the old system, Prabowo said, Indonesians would never feel the benefits of the country’s wealth themselves.

“Our nation has been deceived, our people have been deceived, and our government has been deceived. Legal and criminal law experts will confirm this: is there any political leader or legal expert who would stand up and say that smuggling is not a violation?” he concluded.