Prabowo: Inefficient, Corrupt Bureaucracy Destroys a Nation

President Prabowo Subianto delivered a stern warning against convoluted and corrupt bureaucratic practices during his address at the Annual Session of the MPR and the Joint Session of the DPR and DPD in Jakarta on Friday (14/8). He stressed that bureaucratic inefficiency is a primary barrier to development, often preventing the public from feeling the benefits of government programmes. “An inefficient bureaucracy, a corrupt bureaucracy, will destroy a nation. The state must make things easier for the people, not more difficult,” Prabowo asserted. He called on all levels of the bureaucracy, both central and regional, to reform immediately and stop using their positions for personal, family, or group interests. Prabowo emphasised that this issue must be acknowledged openly and eradicated, not covered up. In his view, in this era of digitalisation and information transparency, attempts to hide bureaucratic decay are no longer relevant. He demanded a unified stance from all political elites to tackle this challenge concretely. The criticism was also specifically directed at regional governments, from the provincial to the district level. The President asked officials to go into the field more often and listen directly to citizens’ complaints. “Ask the people, listen to the people’s voices. They are the first to say that programmes often do not reach the people,” he continued. In his speech, Prabowo linked the issue of bureaucracy to the fulfilment of basic needs, such as in the agricultural sector. He cited the difficulties farmers face in obtaining fertiliser and the fall in grain prices due to complicated regulations. For him, a strong nation is one that can feed its own people without unnecessary administrative hurdles. In closing, the President reminded that the bureaucracy should be an instrument of service that facilitates the people’s rights. He called for unity among leaders to ensure the bureaucracy works effectively and to be bold in reforming regulations that have hindered the people’s progress.