Prabowo to Rocky Gerung at the Palace: Turns Out You're Still a Dissident

Jakarta - Activist Rocky Gerung briefly chatted, shook hands, and laughed with President Prabowo Subianto after the inauguration of ministers and officials at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday (27/4/2026). Rocky recounted that during his conversation with Prabowo, the president called him a “dissident,” a term for those who refuse to obey the government because they deem it illegitimate or as rebels. “Well, anyway, there it is. With Mr Prabowo, I shook hands earlier. And Prabowo is an old friend from past discussions. And he said, ‘Wow, Mr Rocky, thank you for coming’ and ‘turns out Mr Rocky is still a dissident,’ like that,” Rocky stated at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta on Monday. Nevertheless, Rocky Gerung admitted that he is indeed a dissident. “But you could see from his face it was joking. I am indeed a dissident,” he said. Before the ministerial inauguration, Rocky Gerung also spoke with Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya. Rocky explained that he discussed ethics of care and ethics of right with Teddy. “Well, I told Mr Teddy that he is capable of distinguishing when spoken body language is displayed, and when psychological body language is kept for momentum-related matters,” he said. Rocky was present at the Palace to accompany his friend, Jumhur Hidayat, who was inaugurated as Minister of the Environment. In Rocky’s view, Jumhur is an intellectual who has studied various fields from economics to the environment. “So because I know him, I accompanied him. That’s the reason I’m here,” Rocky said.