New faces of nutrition agency
President Prabowo Subianto recently removed BGN chief Dadan Hindayana and replaced him with Nanik S. Deyang. At the same time, both deputy heads—Sony Sonjaya and Lodewyk Pusung—were dismissed. Their replacements are Agustina Arumsari, a senior state auditor from BPKP, and Major General Trenggono, a military officer with experience in food and logistics programs.
Silent diplomacy problem
Former vice foreign minister Dino Patti Djalal publicly questioned why some foreign leaders seeking meetings with President Prabowo Subianto allegedly received no response, the controversy was immediately framed as another debate over the President’s frequent overseas travel. That interpretation misses the more important story.
Review the MBG Reviu application
The controversy surrounding the National Nutrition Agency’s (BGN) Rp1.2 trillion information technology budget for the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program is not merely about software. It is about transparency, accountability and whether Indonesia is once again repeating a familiar pattern in public-sector digitalization: spending first and explaining later.
Pesta Babi controversy
The controversy surrounding Mama Yasinta Moiwend has evolved far beyond a dispute over a documentary film. It has become a test of transparency, credibility and public trust in one of Indonesia’s most controversial strategic projects: the Merauke food estate.
MBG Goes International
The National Nutrition Agency (BGN), which administers President Prabowo’s flagship free meal program, is back with another controversial move. This time, BGN Head Dadan Hindayana is reportedly exploring the possibility of bringing the MBG program to Indonesian schools in Jeddah and Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Such an expansion could help accelerate progress toward the government’s target of reaching 82.9 million beneficiaries. However, given the program’s ongoing operational issues at home, it does not seem like the right time for international expansion.
Prabowo in Paris: Episode 4
President Prabowo Subianto is visiting France for the fourth time since taking office, and for the third time this year alone. The unusual frequency of these visits has drawn public attention, particularly because such high-level diplomacy is expected to produce reciprocal benefits for both countries. Yet, the relationship appears asymmetrical, with tangible returns for Indonesia still not fully evident.
When Rp100 Billion Feels Personal
In celebration of Eid al-Adha 2026, President Prabowo Subianto distributed 1,098 sacrificial cows worth Rp 100 billion, funded through the state budget. In other words, the cattle were purchased with public money, not from the president’s personal wealth. But the way the program was communicated and perceived has blurred that distinction, making it appear to many as a personal gift from the president to the public.
The right to forget, or the right to remember?
The adoption of the “right to be forgotten” in the revision of the Human Rights Law has reopened a difficult question: in a democracy, who gets to decide what society deserves to remember?
Human rights without teeth
Indonesia’s proposed revision to the Human Rights Law is officially described as an effort to modernize and strengthen the country’s human rights framework. Yet the growing backlash from activists, academics, and National Commission on Human Rights itself suggests a very different interpretation: the state may be weakening one of the last independent institutions capable of scrutinizing government power.
The politics of blaming customs
The government’s latest signal that some functions of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise may eventually be shifted to the newly formed Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI) is more than a bureaucratic adjustment. It reflects a deeper political strategy unfolding inside the state.