When social programs wear uniforms
President Prabowo Subianto’s recent address at the TNI–Polri leadership meeting sent a clear political message: the military and police are expected to become the front line of the government’s flagship programs, from the Free Nutritious Meals initiative to the Merah Putih cooperatives and the proposed Sekolah Rakyat. On paper, this sounds like a call for national unity. In practice, it raises a far more uncomfortable question: Why are social programs increasingly placed in the hands of uniformed institutions?
Vice-presidential race is quietly taking shape
Indonesia is only a short time into the Prabowo Subianto–Gibran Rakabuming Raka administration, but early signals for the 2029 election are already emerging. The latest survey from Indikator Politik Indonesia (IPI) not only shows a high approval rating for President Prabowo, but also hints at a growing pool of figures being discussed as potential vice-presidential candidates. These names, drawn from technocrats, ministers and regional leaders, suggest that the next vice president may come from a different political mold.
Prasasti: Blurred lines between research and lobbying
Like many think tanks, Prasasti presents itself as an independent institution committed to data-driven analysis and objective policy recommendations. In practice, however, it also acts as a bridge between corporations and the government–a role that, by design, places Prasasti in a grey zone, where policy facilitation could easily turn into lobbying. This blurs the boundary between public-interest research and private-interest advocacy.
Parliamentary threshold: An insiders’ shield against outsiders
As Indonesia prepares to revise its Election Law, the parliamentary threshold has returned as one of the most divisive issues in the political arena. But beyond the technical language of electoral design, the debate is exposing a deeper conflict: a struggle between political insiders who benefit from the current system and outsiders who are trying to break in.
Popularity is not performance
The latest survey by Indikator Politik Indonesia shows President Prabowo Subianto enjoying a strikingly high approval rating of 79.9 percent. On paper, that number looks like a political landslide. In reality, it may tell us less about government performance than about the structure of Indonesian politics today.
Universal healthcare under pressure
Many beneficiaries of Indonesia’s health insurance contribution assistance scheme (PBI Jaminan Kesehatan) found their coverage abruptly deactivated without prior notice. Now they are forced to navigate a time-consuming re-registration process, even when they need immediate access to a medical treatment. BPJS Kesehatan (operator of the universal healthcare) attributes this issue to an update of the National Socioeconomic Single Data (DTSEN). But in a broader sense, it reflects the impact of shifting government priorities that quietly sacrifices non-priority programs in the name of fiscal reallocation.
When criticism is punished, democracy quietly retreats
The controversy surrounding a job vacancy at Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs should have been an ordinary episode of bureaucratic correction. Instead, it has become an unsettling case study of how the state reacts when citizens scrutinize public policy in the digital age.
Peace without principle is not peace at all
President Prabowo Subianto invited leaders of major Islamic organizations to the State Palace to discuss possible involvement in an international Board of Peace, the meeting was framed as dialogue. In substance, however, it revealed something more unsettling: a government still unsure whether its global ambitions align with the moral expectations of its own people.
Prabowo’s consolidation meets reality
President Prabowo Subianto convened thousands of regional leaders in Sentul and held a closed-door, five-hour discussion with figures often associated with reformist and critical perspectives. These moves have been widely interpreted as an effort to consolidate political forces early, long before the 2029 election cycle begins. Yet this consolidation is taking place amid growing public pressures that will test not political coordination alone, but the government’s capacity to deliver.
From civil service to command culture
Government plan to expand its Komponen Cadangan (Komcad) program by training thousands of civil servants marks a subtle but consequential shift in how the state imagines security. Proposed under Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, the initiative is officially framed as an effort to strengthen national resilience, discipline, and patriotism. Yet beneath this benign narrative lies a far more troubling question: is Indonesia drifting toward the militarization of its civilian bureaucracy?