TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsPrabowo pledges economic ‘transformation’ at Pancasila Day speech
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
President Prabowo Subianto delivers his speech on June 1 during a ceremony at the Foreign Ministry’s Pancasila building to celebrate the birth of Pancasila, in Jakarta. (Antara/Bayu Pratama S)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto on Monday described his flagship policies as manifestations of the country's founding ideology Pancasila, declaring a need for an economic transformation based on national unity, welfare, justice and humanity.
Delivering his speech at a ceremony at the Foreign Ministry’s Pancasila building to celebrate the birth of Pancasila 81 years ago, Prabowo said it is his duty as president to resolve the dissonance between Indonesia’s economic growth in the past few decades and the lagging welfare of its broader population.
“We must acknowledge that our wealth has not been fully harnessed for the prosperity of our own people. For far too long, a portion of the added value of our resources has been enjoyed abroad,” he said.
To transform the economy, Prabowo said his policies would prioritize welfare, pointing to much debated populist policies, such as the free nutritious meal and rural cooperative programs, as key drivers of grassroots economic growth.
Prabowo, whose victory in the 2024 presidential election hinged on a populist, welfare-focused campaign, has positioned his free meals program as the cornerstone of his administration’s agenda, aiming to improve Indonesia’s human capital by reducing stunting through the delivery of over 55 million free school meals daily.
The program has however drawn widespread controversy, with its Rp 268 trillion (US$15.03 billion) budget perceived as sumptuous amid statewide efficiency measures, as well as implementation issues that have caused at least 33,000 poisoning cases since its launching.
Read also: Prabowo recognizes 'problems' with free meal scheme
