Saiful Mujani: Public Increasingly Afraid to Talk Politics
The founder of Saiful Mujund Research Center and Consulting, Saiful Mujani, stated that the public is becoming increasingly afraid to speak openly about politics during the administration of President Prabowo Subianto. This statement refers to a survey conducted by the Saiful Mujani Research Center and Consulting in March 2026. He noted that this condition differs significantly from the early era of the Reformation.
“At the beginning of the Reformation, if we used a scale from 0 to 10, the score was seven. Now, it only reaches a score of three,” he said during his opening remarks at the Republic Conference in Cikini, Central Jakarta, on Sunday, 28 June 2026.
The survey asked the public to what extent they fear discussing politics. According to the survey, 3 out of 10 people are afraid to speak about politics. For him, this condition indicates that freedom of political speech is becoming increasingly restricted.
Saiful also cited the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) theory regarding freedom of opinion. Freedom of opinion involves the government respecting the rights of citizens to express themselves, including political freedom and academic life.
Based on V-Dem analysis, Indonesia’s freedom score averaged around 7 between 2000 and 2010. However, in 2025, the score fell below 5. “So, from a seven, the current position is an average of four across all those aspects,” he stated.
Based on this, Saiful assessed that freedom is currently at a very low point. Furthermore, the public is also afraid of the arbitrary actions of state apparatus and potential violations of the constitution. For him, this climate of fear must be resisted.
Previously, Saiful Mujani presented these findings during the ‘Bedah Politik’ programme on the SMRC TV YouTube channel on Thursday, 30 April 2026. He referred to a series of national surveys by SMRC and LSI that captured public attitudes towards political freedom of speech.
Since October 2024, when Prabowo assumed the presidency, the perception of public fear has begun to strengthen. At that time, 51 per cent of citizens believed the public was afraid to discuss politics. That figure subsequently rose to 53 per cent in March 2026.
Saiful spoke at the Republic Conference in Cikini. The conference was originally intended to be held at the UI Campus in Salemba, Central Jakarta, on Sunday morning, 28 June 2026. However, UI suddenly prohibited the event, citing that it did not meet administrative procedures.
The conference was attended by participants from various backgrounds, including Sudirman Said and Yanuar Nugroho.