Prabowo Mistakenly Claims Teachers' Salaries Have Risen by Almost 300 Per Cent
President Prabowo Subianto briefly stumbled over his words when delivering a speech at the plenary session of the House of Representatives (DPR) on 20 May 2026. The president misstated that teachers’ salaries had risen by almost 300 per cent, when he meant judges.
He argued that a country that wants to progress must have a strong government and bureaucracy, and added: ‘There is no advanced country without legal certainty.’ Continuing his speech, Prabowo said he had raised judges’ salaries. However, he slipped up and mentioned teachers instead of judges: ‘Because of that, my government has increased teachers’ salaries, some by almost 300 per cent, teachers’ earnings,’ he stated.
After realising his mistake, Prabowo paused for a few seconds. The former defence minister corrected himself: ‘(I meant) our judges, sorry, judges,’ he said.
Prabowo said he was proud to receive reports that the Chief Justice of Indonesia earns more than the head of the Supreme Court of Singapore. He also noted that junior judges in Indonesia earn more than peers of similar rank in Malaysia.
He said the move was intended to produce an institution that is clean. ‘We do not want our judges to be bribed or bought. We also do not want all our other officials to be like that,’ he said.
In the same speech, Prabowo also expressed his wish that the welfare of teachers be safeguarded. He stated that the future of a nation is determined by the quality of education that can be provided to its children. ‘The quality of education is determined by the quality of teachers. Improving teachers’ living conditions must be our priority,’ said the former Defence Minister.
On the other hand, Prabowo acknowledged that there are still teachers, along with law enforcers and civil servants, who earn low salaries. One of the reasons, he said, is that the state budget is unable to sustain them. He attributed this inability in part to corruption. ‘What happens is what is called under-invoicing. Under-invoicing is actually fraud or deception,’ Prabowo said.
Prabowo attended the DPR plenary session to present the macroeconomic framework and the main fiscal policy package (KEM-PPKF). The eighth President of Indonesia became the first to present KEM-PPKF directly to parliament.