Prabowo Orders Bureaucrats Not to Take Too Many Initiatives

President Prabowo urged civil servants not to act on their own in the government he leads, instructing them not to initiate beyond the directives of the president and ministers.

The former Defence Minister argued that the problem arises when leadership has already set a policy but additional rules emerge at lower levels, describing such initiative as a form of disordered bureaucracy.

The Gerindra Party chairman delivered the instruction during a speech in the plenary session of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Wednesday, 20 May 2026, saying: ‘Do not take too many initiatives. The president’s orders, the ministers’ orders are already there; at the lower levels they come up with more,’ at the MPR/DPR/DPD Building in Jakarta.

Prabowo alleged that bureaucrats acting independently could be doing so to extort and disrupt entrepreneurs seeking licences in Indonesia, resulting in slow licensing processes.

He contrasted Indonesia’s licensing duration with neighbouring countries, noting: ‘If Malaysia can issue licences in two weeks, why do ours take two years? Shameful!’

He described some non-compliant bureaucrats as deep-state actors or a state within a state, arguing they feel immune because they can remain within the bureaucracy even as presidents and ministers change through elections.

Prabowo urged ministers to be vigilant, saying: ‘I remind all ministers to discipline your bureaucracy downwards. Be wary of those bureaucrats, because they have long experience.’

The remarks came as Prabowo attended the plenary to present the macroeconomic framework and the macro policy (KEM-PPKF). The eighth President of Indonesia became the first to present KEM-PPKF directly to Parliament.

Earlier, Prabowo had also highlighted deep-state actors as disruptors in his government, discussing the issue in interviews with several journalists and analysts on 17 March 2026.