UGM Students Storm Discussion Stage, Declare Officials Unfit to Speak on Pancasila
The student protest that disrupted the Kopdar X NYL Bareng Mas Dar discussion titled ‘Pancasila as the Unifier of the Indonesian Nation’ at the Joglo Gelanggang Inovasi dan Kreativitas (GIK) of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) on Monday (15/6/2026) evening was not without reason. They rejected the presence of three government officials serving as speakers in the discussion, deeming the panellists unworthy of speaking about Pancasila amid a national condition perceived as increasingly distant from the values championed by the people.
The three officials present at the forum were Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency Nusron Wahid, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono, and Head of the National Poverty Alleviation Acceleration Agency (BP Taskin) Budiman Sudjatmiko.
The Chairman of the UGM Student Union (SEMA UGM), Mesa, stated that the students’ anger was triggered by various government policies considered not to be in favour of the public. According to him, increasingly difficult economic conditions, a perceived narrowing of space for criticism, and a number of government programmes were the main reasons for the student action.
‘They are not fit to talk about Pancasila while Indonesia still silences the people’s voice, as long as they consider criticism a disturbance, as long as they continue to waste the people’s money on useless programmes, the MBG programme, Kopdes Merah Putih, and many things happening now,’ Mesa said when met at the location on Monday (15/6/2026) evening.
The students also assessed that the current national condition is far from the positive picture presented by the government in the discussion. Mesa stated that the government cabinet is more oriented towards power consolidation rather than solving public problems.
‘Regarding the economic condition, this cabinet is not a working cabinet, but a cabinet for having no opposition. They are not a support unit for Prabowo-Gibran, they are a unit of sycophants for Prabowo-Gibran,’ he said.