Prabowo: What is the Point of DPR and DPD if the People Are Not Prosperous?

President Prabowo Subianto has questioned the purpose of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) if they cannot bring prosperity to the people. He stated that the goal of Indonesia’s independence was to ensure the welfare of its citizens.

Speaking at the peak event of the XVII National Farmers and Fishermen Week in Gorontalo Regency on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, as broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel, Prabowo said, “That is the purpose of our independence! We did not become independent just for the sake of being independent. What is the point of having a DPR, what is the point of having a DPD, what is the point of singing the national anthem, if our people are not prosperous?”

Prabowo argued that Indonesia struggled for hundreds of years so that upon independence, the people would have access to education, decent housing, and healthcare. However, he assessed that there has been a lack of effort from the nation’s elites to realise prosperity for the people or to empower the lower classes.

He said this was the reason he entered politics and persisted in presidential contests despite facing defeat several times. “That is why I am determined, I keep fighting, I stay in politics. I lose, I run again; I lose, I run again,” Prabowo stated.

The former Defence Minister under President Joko Widodo’s administration also urged the public to place their trust in the country’s leaders and government. “We want to see our people smile, we want to see our people prosperous, there is no other intention,” he said.