State Secretary Chairs Meeting with Multiple Ministers at Defence Ministry
Several ministers from the Red-White Cabinet held a meeting at the office of the Defence Ministry in Central Jakarta on Tuesday morning, 17 March 2026.
Deputy Minister of Defence Air Marshal (Ret.) Donny Ermawan Taufanto stated that the meeting was to follow up on an order from President Prabowo Subianto at a meeting in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, on Sunday, 8 March 2026. At that time, the meeting discussed various matters ranging from developments in the Middle East situation to the construction of ten new campuses.
Donny expressed hope that this meeting could reach a decision. “What the President expects must be implemented promptly and the time available is very limited,” he said when opening the meeting.
Donny stated that the meeting was chaired by State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi. The meeting was attended by Minister of Empowerment of State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reform Rini Widyantini, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Abdul Mu’ti, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Brian Yuliarto, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian, and Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister of Cooperatives Farida Farichah, Head of the State Personnel Agency Zudan Arif Fakrulloh, and Head of the Central Statistics Agency Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti.
At the time of reporting, the meeting was still ongoing. President Prabowo Subianto had previously held a series of meetings with several Red-White Cabinet ministers at his private residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, on Sunday, 8 March 2026. Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya in his written statement explained that the Head of State led five separate meetings from afternoon through evening.
“On Sunday afternoon through evening, President Prabowo Subianto held 5 separate meetings calling several ministers from the Red-White Cabinet at his residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, on 8 March 2026,” said Cabinet Secretary Teddy in his written statement.
According to Teddy, in these several meetings President Prabowo requested the latest reports regarding developments in various government issues and strategic agendas, both domestically and in terms of international dynamics. The first issue discussed was the progress of construction of ten new campuses focused on strengthening the fields of science and technology.
“The progress of construction of 10 new campuses in the field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) as well as medical education,” explained Teddy.
Furthermore, President Prabowo requested reports regarding efforts to improve the quality of state universities so they could compete globally and expand cooperation with renowned universities worldwide. In that meeting, Cabinet Secretary Teddy noted that President Prabowo also discussed developments in the international geopolitical situation, particularly the dynamics in the Middle East region which are considered to have implications for global and regional conditions. “The development of the situation in the Middle East is connected with geopolitical escalation in Indonesia,” said Cabinet Secretary Teddy.
Another topic also discussed in the meeting was the development of educational programmes for Palestinian students in Indonesia, particularly those studying at the Defence University. According to Teddy, when serving as Defence Minister, since 2022 President Prabowo has invited 20-40 Palestinian children to study in Indonesia, with the number now reaching nearly 200 students.
Besides education and geopolitics issues, President Prabowo requested reports regarding government readiness in facing the anticipated increase in the Eid holiday exodus in the near term. “Security readiness and smooth travel preparations heading into the 10 days leading to Eid al-Fitr,” said Teddy.