Prabowo stresses Article 33 of Constitution to protect state wealth

“I want to reaffirm my belief that if we implement Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution properly and consistently, our country will have sufficient resources to ensure Indonesia becomes a prosperous and just nation,” he said during a plenary session of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Wednesday.

According to Prabowo, Indonesia’s founding fathers formulated the economic foundation based on the nation’s long struggle against imperialism, and therefore it should not be replaced by capitalism or neoliberalism.

He warned that deviations from the national economic framework had caused massive losses of state wealth through various illegal practices.

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“If we consistently implement Article 33, we can avoid practices such as under-invoicing, false reporting, falsification of export tonnage and quality, fraud against the state, as well as illegal mining, illegal logging, and illegal plantations,” he said.

Prabowo also highlighted what he described as the irony of Indonesia’s economy, which grew 35 percent over the past seven years while the middle class shrank and poverty increased.

He said the condition reflected a serious systemic failure, with Indonesia recording the lowest state revenue-to-GDP ratio among G20 members.

According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, Indonesia’s revenue ratio stands at around 11–12 percent of GDP, below Cambodia’s 15 percent, India’s 20 percent, the Philippines’ 21 percent, and Mexico’s 25 percent.

He noted that Indonesia has a strategic geographic position and is the world’s largest exporter of three strategic raw and processed commodities.

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Translator: Aditya Ramadhan, Cindy Frishanti Octavia