Prabowo: We Are Now in a Situation Where We Must Survive
President Prabowo Subianto stressed that Indonesia is now in a situation where it must survive. He made the remarks while addressing a plenary Cabinet meeting at Merdeka Palace in Central Jakarta on Wednesday (21 October 2026).
The President began by saying Indonesia had always been a target of powers and countries seeking to take its natural wealth. When he received his mandate and was inaugurated on 20 October 2024, Prabowo said he faced challenges and difficulties with courage.
“We can no longer face this by being too naïve or trying to please others. We are now being forced to choose between facing difficulties and facing reality, the essence of which is to save the wealth of the nation and the Indonesian people,” Prabowo said.
He said the alternative was to continue a system that allowed Indonesia’s wealth to be taken abroad year after year through practices he described as fraudulent.
“Our nation has been deceived, our people have been deceived, our government has been deceived. Legal and criminal law experts will confirm this. Is there any political leader or legal expert who would stand up and say that smuggling is not a violation?” Prabowo asked.
“Smuggling is like stabbing our nation, stabbing our body. It is an attempt to kill our economy. Killing our economy means killing our nation,” he continued.
The chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) also referred to various forms of smuggling into and out of the country, involving goods including narcotics, tin, gold, coal, timber, fuel and fertiliser.
“How can anyone say that we should preserve a system that allows smuggling to continue? The key point I want to make, and have made repeatedly, is that we are now in a situation where we have to survive; we have to hold on and protect our wealth,” Prabowo said.
“Our wealth, our natural resources, are like our blood. If we keep losing blood, our body cannot survive. We are in a situation where we have to survive, and it is not only us: many countries around the world are facing the same thing. In a survival situation, national interests and the interests of the people come first,” he added.