Saiful Mujani Deems Prabowo's Victory Undemocratic
Founder of Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC), Saiful Mujani, has criticised Prabowo Subianto’s victory in the 2024 Presidential Election. According to him, Prabowo, paired with Joko Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, won through undemocratic mechanisms.
“For me, that is autocracy through undemocratic election mechanisms or electoral autocracy,” Saiful stated in his comments on Tuesday, 7 April 2026.
The Prabowo-Gibran ticket, backed by a large coalition, outperformed the other two pairs: Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud Md. Prabowo and Gibran were inaugurated as president and vice president by the People’s Consultative Assembly on 20 October 2024.
Saiful claims to have reasons for urging the public to oust Prabowo from government. In particular, Saiful views the leadership of the former Kopassus Commander as generally incompetent and lacking authority. “In my eyes, Prabowo is generally without authority and incompetent, so I am calling for his removal,” he said. “Prabowo is not presidential. A presidential figure, to me, is one who is inclusive, accepts diverse aspirations, and acts beyond partisan politics.”
He stated that the way to remove the president could begin with the House of Representatives (DPR). However, he doubts this approach would succeed, given that the Gerindra Party General Chairman currently controls the legislative body.
Alternatively, waiting until the 2029 election, which is still 3.5 years away. According to Saiful, various policies implemented by Prabowo have the potential to make Indonesia worse, so change at the top of government must be done immediately.
“Therefore, the alternative path (to topple Prabowo) is through people power,” he said.
Saiful noted that pressure from the masses to shake the leader has occurred in Indonesian history. He cited examples such as the people power upheavals in 1966 and 1998. The mass pressure in 1998, for instance, led to Suharto’s downfall.
“This movement is at least to delegitimise Prabowo, who is not presidential, and to strengthen the mass opposition,” Saiful said.
At a halal bihalal event titled “Before Observers Are Regulated” on 31 March 2026, Saiful Mujani attended and voiced his criticism of President Prabowo Subianto’s government. At that gathering forum, the head of this polling agency urged the public to topple Prabowo from government as an effort to save Indonesia.
Saiful Mujani’s criticism of Prabowo Subianto has become a recent topic of discussion. Former Presidential Office Head Hasan Nasbi assessed the statement as potentially creating provocation.
According to him, the statement is inappropriate amid the current global situation. Hasan believes there is a tendency to topple a legitimate government without going through democratic processes.
“They claim to be democracy fighters, but they never understand the essence of democracy,” Hasan said in his statement, citing Antara on Tuesday, 7 April 2026.
Hasan opined that provocative actions to impeach a legitimate government without constitutional processes constitute a violation of democracy. According to him, what Saiful Mujani did by urging the public to topple Prabowo is based on personal feelings.
“You want to urge the public to topple the president because your feelings are not fulfilled, because your desires are not achieved; that is something unacceptable,” he said.
In a separate opportunity, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said he was not yet aware of what Saiful Mujani had said. “I have a lot of work. I haven’t seen what he said,” Teddy stated at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Tuesday, 7 April 2026.
According to Teddy, Prabowo is also likely unaware of the criticism levelled by Saiful. “Especially the President. The President is handling big matters, focusing on more strategic issues,” Teddy said.