President Details Multidimensional Problems, Mitigation Needed to Prevent Escalation

President Prabowo Subianto has reminded all parties that Indonesia today is facing multidimensional problems. In essence, the President’s warning aligns with the aspirations of various elements of society voiced almost daily on social media platforms. To prevent the escalation of these problems, the President’s warning should be promptly followed up by his aides with an initial step in the form of mitigating these multidimensional problems.

At a plenary cabinet session on Monday (20 July), President Prabowo Subianto revealed that many problems persist in Indonesia. The President did not expect the range of issues to exceed his estimates. The problems he detailed include inadequate teacher salaries, insufficient employment opportunities, and the very large number of poor people.

“We understand that our teachers’ salaries are insufficient; we understand that job opportunities are lacking; we understand that extreme poverty remains widespread. We understand that these are all our problems. This is precisely what we were elected and given a mandate to resolve,” Prabowo said, as monitored online via the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel. The head of state is determined that the government he leads will resolve all these issues.

To complement the problems outlined by the President, other issues that must not be oversimplified deserve mention. These range from the weakening performance of the national economy, the collapse of the private sector including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), diminishing purchasing power and public consumption, increasingly rampant corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN), to societal polarisation stemming from political residue.

There is also the state’s obligation to continue rehabilitation and reconstruction in a number of disaster-affected areas in Sumatra. This series of problems has become a fact that must not be concealed, so that understanding of the multidimensional problems becomes ever more comprehensive.

A thorough understanding of these multidimensional problems will create space for the formulation of solutions without creating new problems. Recently, new policies have often been introduced or imposed that reflect the government’s ego, particularly tax policies. The aggressiveness of tax base expansion has resulted in an increasingly narrow space for growth in the productive activities of ordinary people.

Not long ago, labour communities and trade unions voiced protests over the imposition of income tax (PPh 21) on withdrawals of the Old-Age Security (JHT) fund. In a number of regions, local residents have continuously voiced rejection of the aggressiveness of regional governments in expanding the tax base. That expansion has even targeted small food stalls and street food carts.

When the socio-economic reality of society is in good shape, expanding the tax base can be accepted. Conversely, if the economy is demonstrably troubled due to weakening purchasing power amid an unemployment bubble, expanding the tax base will only result in a narrowing of the room to manoeuvre and the growth of productive activities for ordinary people.

It must be realised together that amid the pressure of these multidimensional problems, the public has never surrendered. On the contrary, with the spirit of self-reliance and resilience, people are struggling to free themselves from this pressure. Communities in several regions have even taken the initiative to independently repair damaged infrastructure that hinders their access to productive activities.

There are several examples of such self-reliant initiatives. Residents of Bener Meriah Regency, Aceh, worked together to raise more than Rp 1 billion to repair the Enang-Enang bridge in Pintu Rime Gayo district. In Central Java, residents did the same. Residents of Sukoharjo, Grobogan, Blora and Pati raised funds independently to repair damaged roads. In this context, rather than helping or facilitating these productive activities, the government has instead made the public uncomfortable with its tax base expansion.

Amid the current poor socio-economic reality of society, tax base expansion in a number of regions will, sooner or later, breed tension between regional governments and local residents. Tax base expansion is a case in point of a policy aimed at addressing the budget deficit while creating side effects or problems that must be borne by the public.

The State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) recorded a deficit of Rp 196.5 trillion in the first half of 2026. Beyond tax contributions from the people to address this deficit, the government still has several options. After all, has not President Prabowo already given a kind of indication about distortions or irregularities in the Indonesian economy? These distortions take the form of state wealth leakage worth thousands of trillions of rupiah, or hundreds of billions of dollars per year, through various illegal practices.

“Through practices of under-invoicing, falsified reports, transfer pricing and smuggling that are truly unfair to our nation,” Prabowo said. The head of state also assured that the government would put an end to these long-standing illegal practices.

In the context of restoring balance to the APBN, the President’s aides are being encouraged to turn Prabowo’s determination to secure state wealth into concrete action. The first step is mitigating the leakage of state wealth. The authorised and relevant state institutions should take the initiative to carry out this mitigation promptly.

The figures and seniors of the Central Leadership Council (Dewan Pimpinan Nasional or Depinas) of SOKSI (Sentral Organisasi Karyawan Swadiri Indonesia) have paid special attention to President Prabowo’s remarks on the multidimensional problems Indonesia currently faces. This theme was the subject of a SOKSI seniors’ discussion forum titled ‘Mitigating the Economic Crisis - Preventing the Potential for Political Instability’, held recently in Jakarta.

To refresh our memory, SOKSI figures and seniors pointed to history’s record of many countries failing to manage the seeds of crisis. That history provides evidence that economic weakness, if not managed wisely, always leads to rising social tension and political instability.

It is in this context that Indonesia must care about, study and anticipate the impact of slowing world economic growth, geopolitical uncertainty arising from conflicts in various regions, global supply chain disruptions, fluctuations in energy and food prices, and increasing fiscal pressure in many countries. With attentiveness and anticipatory policies, Indonesia can formulate further steps to strengthen national resilience.

SOKSI figures and seniors assess that Indonesia still has a relatively sound economic foundation, with economic growth of around five per cent and controlled inflation. However, various challenges such as weakening public purchasing power, rising lay-offs in a number of labour-intensive sectors, and pressure on the middle class require measured mitigation steps so they do not develop into broader political and security problems.

Crisis mitigation must not wait until conditions deteriorate. The experience of various countries proves that when economic pressure is left to fester, what follows is not merely slower economic growth, but also social discontent, political polarisation, rising crime, and diminishing public trust in state institutions. Therefore, economic policy must be made the most important instrument in safeguarding national stability.

Multilateral institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and the OECD remind us that the global economy remains in a phase of high uncertainty due to geopolitical fragmentation, trade wars, climate change and technological disruption. These conditions require every nation to continue strengthening domestic economic resilience.

Bambang Soesatyo, Member of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), 15th Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI), 20th Speaker of the DPR RI, 7th Chair of Commission III of the DPR RI, and postgraduate (doctoral) lecturer in Legal Science at Borobudur University, Jayabaya University and the Defence University (Unhan)