State Palace Explains Prabowo and Gibran's Seating Arrangement at Cabinet Meeting

State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi has explained that the seating position of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka during the Plenary Cabinet Session (SKP) on Monday (20/7) was solely due to the technical requirements of the meeting. Prasetyo stated that the seating arrangement was related to the President’s need to deliver a presentation supported by extensive data and the use of a teleprompter during the session. “Because he wanted to explain many programmes, if you noticed, the number of programmes had to be supported by data. Because of that, yesterday he used a teleprompter. That answers the question about the layout,” Prasetyo said at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta on Tuesday.

“If you noticed, the President was in the centre. If the question is about the Vice President’s position, we see this as merely a technical necessity,” he added. Prasetyo firmly denied any suggestion that the positions of the President and Vice President were unequal. “Not at all. There is absolutely no issue there. We are currently in a phase of strong solidarity, all working hard to achieve the President’s directives, the national work programme and priorities, solely for the interests of the people, the nation and the state,” he stressed.

Prasetyo also conveyed that the SKP led by President Prabowo at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday was a routine mid-year session, held after the end of the first semester. The previous plenary cabinet session was held on 13 March 2026, approximately four months prior. Furthermore, Prasetyo added that during the SKP, President Prabowo used the momentum to evaluate various government priority programmes while providing directives on accelerating the implementation of programmes that must be completed in the second semester of this year.

“The most important thing is substantively what the President conveyed to all ranks, which was providing an assessment, an evaluation, and presenting the achievements of the Red and White Cabinet over approximately 21 months of trust under the leadership of President Prabowo and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, which have been numerous,” Prasetyo said. “Of course, it concluded with his desire for us, in this remaining second semester, to accelerate the priority programmes that we still need to push for completion. That is all,” he concluded. It was noted that there was a different sight at the SKP at the State Palace on Monday, where President Prabowo did not sit side-by-side with Vice President Gibran. At the session, Prabowo sat alone in the front row facing the members of the Red and White Cabinet, while Vice President Gibran sat in the row of Coordinating Ministers, next to Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto.