Demonstrators during a protest against Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto near the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Opposition is growing against Prabowo’s call for “budget efficiency” that’s reminiscent of the deep spending cuts that are happening both in Vietnam and in the US. --Photographer: Muhammad Fadli/Bloomberg
JAKARTA (Bloomberg): President Prabowo Subianto, the ex-general who rose to power pledging to upend Indonesian politics, is taking hundreds of regional leaders on a week-long bootcamp just as signs of dissent emerge against his populist government.
The officials, who were sworn in Thursday, face an intense schedule that includes 6 a.m. aerobics, roll calls, and talks on everything from budgeting to food security, according to local news outlet Tempo. Day Two will see 42 ministers discuss the eight visions of Prabowo’s government.
But the retreat faces a partial boycott, with ex-President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who leads the main opposition, telling party officials on Thursday night to skip the event following the detention of a key aide.
And Friday saw hundreds protest against Prabowo’s cuts to various government functions as he favors his signature programs.
Prabowo remains highly popular with more than 80% support, thanks to programs giving free school meals and health checks, and decisions like his last-minute rollback of a tax hike.
But cracks have appeared, and this week saw him dismiss the first minister of his four-month-old government.
And his bid to pay for his populist pledges by cutting roughly $19 billion of state spending has upset many in the public sector, not least because he added more than a dozen ministries when he took office and has frequently traveled abroad.
His office recently had to deny the government would scrap civil service holiday allowances and bonuses.
"In the bureaucracy, there are those who already feel immune to the law, who feel like they have become little kings,” he said on Feb. 10. "I want to save money, and that money is for the people.”
Even the leaders’ retreat at a military academy in Magelang, about seven hours drive from Jakarta, was cut back to eight days from a fortnight, amid concern at the cost.
All participants have been told to bring a military uniform, another sign of what some say is the militarization of the government by a president who was banned from the US for almost two decades over alleged human rights abuses, which he denied.
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Ex-President Megawati’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, told officials to stay away, a decision that could affect around one-ninth of the 900 regional officials who were sworn in on Thursday.
"If you are already on your way to Magelang, stop and await further instructions from the Chairwoman,” read an internal letter to party members seen by Bloomberg on Thursday evening. Party spokesperson Mohamad Guntur Romli confirmed the letter’s authenticity.
The memo came out after the anti-corruption agency KPK, which is under Prabowo’s office, on Thursday arrested PDI-P Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto over bribery allegations. Hasto, who has not been formally charged and has denied wrongdoing, was presented to the public in handcuffs, wearing the office’s signature orange vest for detainees.
The probe is purely for "law enforcement” purposes and is not politically motivated, the agency’s Chairman Setyo Budiyanto said at a press conference in Jakarta.
Hasto isn’t the first PDI-P politician to be arrested under Prabowo’s administration, and his detention comes ahead of a crucial party congress in April, where Chairwoman Megawati is expected to decide whether the party will join Prabowo’s ruling coalition or remain in opposition.
Friday’s rally marks the last day of week-long protest across the country led by hundreds of students opposed to the president’s budget restructuring that’s hit everything from scholarships to infrastructure projects, and threatened contractual workers’ jobs. Student organizations said they deliberately held the protest this week to catch the newly-elected regional heads’ attention.
Prabowo is hosting the week-long retreat as a way to align the elected local heads with his flagship policies, including a free meal program, and to strengthen central-regional coordination in pursuit of his ambitious 8% annual growth target.
Hasto was arrested on bribery charges related to the replacement of a member of parliament and for allegedly obstructing an investigation into a fugitive linked to his party.
Party leaders claim the anti-graft probe is politically motivated. Since former President Joko Widodo-backed Budiyanto became KPK chairman in December, the agency has arrested two other PDI-P politicians for separate corruption charges.
"Hopefully, this will be a turning point for KPK to enforce the law fairly and without exceptions, including investigating President Jokowi’s family,” Hasto said before being escorted into a detention van.
--With assistance from Soraya Permatasari. -- ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
