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-Jokowi strains surface amid public discontent
Fresh signs of strain have emerged in the relationship between President Prabowo Subianto and his predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, as the administration faces mounting public discontent over rising fuel prices and Prabowo’s policies.
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 (left), who also chairs the Gerindra Party, and former president Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo pose on stage during the party's 17th anniversary celebration in Bogor, West Java, on Feb. 15, 2025. (AFP/Aditya Aji)
F
resh signs of strain have emerged in the relationship between President Prabowo Subianto and his predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, as the administration faces mounting public discontent over rising fuel prices and Prabowo’s policies.
Prabowo’s administration has come under sustained scrutiny over its spending priorities, particularly its costly free nutritious meal program, amid rising living costs, a weakening rupiah and broader economic uncertainty.
While Prabowo remained largely silent during weeks of nationwide student protests, Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s oldest son, met student representatives at his office last week and later invited other university students to accompany him on working visits to eastern Indonesia.
The outreach quickly sparked controversy after a student union leader who attended the meeting admitted in a viral video that he had received money to cancel a planned protest near the Presidential Palace and instead attend the meeting with Gibran.
Without directly referring to the incident, Prabowo on Wednesday warned of individuals he claimed were financing anti-government demonstrations for political purposes, saying some protesters might not fully understand the issues they were protesting and had been influenced or paid to participate.
“Beware, I am warning them. I know who is paying these protesters [...] Our country is competing with many other nations. The nation should be united,” he said, likening Indonesia to a sports team whose supporters should not turn against their own side while the match is still underway.
Read also: Elite maneuvers put student movements at risk
