Prabowo Says a Nation Needs a Stubborn Attitude to Uphold Principles

The government faces policy dilemmas with no truly comfortable options.

President Prabowo Subianto has stressed that a nation cannot always respond softly to pressures. In certain situations, he believes, a stubborn attitude is essential to uphold principles, maintain dignity, and ensure sovereignty remains undisturbed.

Prabowo made this statement during a briefing at the Government Working Meeting with the Merah Putih Cabinet, all echelon I officials from ministries and agencies, and directors of state-owned enterprises at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta on Wednesday (8/4).

“For a nation, sometimes stubbornness is needed,” Prabowo said.

He also touched on public perceptions of his own stubborn character. Rather than denying it, Prabowo responded light-heartedly, even joking by tapping his own head while laughing.

Yet behind the jest, the message was firm: a nation that wishes to endure must not easily waver due to pressures, threats, or external opinions.

Prabowo then cited Iran as an example of a nation often seen as stubborn for persisting despite repeated threats.

“Now people say the Iranian people are stubborn, the Iranian fighters are stubborn. Threatened back and forth, repeatedly targeted for elimination,” he said.

According to Prabowo, Indonesia was born from a similar temperament. He reminded that the nation’s founders and past leaders displayed uncompromising attitudes when facing colonisation and threats to independence.

For Prabowo, Indonesia’s independence was not built on hesitant character, but on the courage to refuse submission. It is this attitude, in his view, that has allowed the nation to stand tall to this day.

“In the past, our founding fathers were stubborn. Better to die than be colonised again. We don’t want to be colonised again. Our leaders were stubborn. The Red and White is a matter of life and death, no negotiations,” he stated.

The briefing at the Palace was held to unify the entire government’s understanding of the state’s policy direction. The President gathered ministers, deputy ministers, echelon I officials, and SOE leaders to ensure no differing interpretations in implementing the government’s agenda.

Head of the Indonesian Government Communication Agency, Angga Raka Prabowo, said the President wanted to directly convey strategic directives to all elements of the government, including on national policies and recent developments.

Through this forum, Prabowo not only provided technocratic guidance but also emphasised the fundamental attitude he deems important: this nation must not lose its firmness when confronting major challenges.