Response to Saiful Mujani's Statement, Cabinet Secretary Teddy: President Focuses on Major Strategic Matters

Cabinet Secretary (Seskab) Teddy Indra Wijaya has responded to a statement by the founder of Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC), Saiful Mujani, which touched on President Prabowo and subsequently went viral on social media. Teddy stated that the President remains focused on managing the country’s major strategic matters. “Especially the President, the President is handling big things, focusing on more strategic issues,” said Teddy when met by reporters at the State Palace Complex in Jakarta on Tuesday (7 April 2026). “I have a lot of work. I haven’t seen what he said. That’s roughly it,” Teddy added. Previously, at a halal bihalal event held at Beranda Utan Kayu on Tuesday (31 March 2026), whose video went viral on social media, Saiful, as the closing speaker, alluded to President Prabowo. According to him, the way to remove the President cannot be done through formal procedures in the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR). Saiful opined that the only way is for societal elements to consolidate themselves. “The alternative is not through formal impeachment procedures. That won’t work,” said Saiful. Head of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) for the 2024-2025 period, Hasan Nasbi, assessed Saiful’s statement as provocative, especially as it was delivered during a halal bihalal moment. He said there are groups in this nation and other countries who claim to be democracy fighters but measure democracy by their own stomachs. “Measuring democracy with their own feelings and desires,” said Hasan in a video he uploaded to Instagram. He added that if that person’s desires are fulfilled or they are involved in government policies, then they will consider the government democratic. Conversely, if not, they will call it undemocratic. “There are people like that, and people like that are usually always tempted to say words that exceed the limits, words that exceed the limits are ‘let’s topple the government, let’s overthrow the government’, or a bit more constitutional, ‘let’s impeach the government’,” said Hasan. “Perhaps the desire to gain power without elections is raging in their souls, they want to take a path to power without going through the democratic process, they claim to be democracy fighters, but never want to understand the essence of democracy,” Hasan continued.