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View all search resultsCalls for reform grow ahead of Prabowo’s state address
Intellectuals call for the government to restore the independence of key state institutions to support the rule of law and end misallocation of state funds for initiatives including President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship programs.
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Student protestors hold banners, including one reading "Indonesia in Emergency", during a rally against a rise of non-subsidized fuel prices and the free nutritious meal program on June 15 in Surabaya, East Java. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
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alls for sweeping political and institutional reforms are intensifying ahead of President Prabowo Subianto’s much-anticipated State of the Nation address, with the latest coming from academics warning of a deepening national and democratic crisis.
Dozens of academics and intellectuals from the Interdisciplinary Intellectual Forum (FIAD), an independent intellectual collective, convened at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) in Central Jakarta on Thursday to launch a 16-page manifesto, outlining a three-stage set of demands to make Indonesia a “just, democratic, sovereign and sustainable state”.
Among those involved in the manifesto were University of Indonesia (UI) professors Manneke Budiman, Sulistyowati Irianto and Theddeus OH Prasetyono, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) astronomy professor Premana Premadi, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) sociologist Arie Sudjito and writer Okky Madasari.
The group highlighted what they described as a “decline in the quality of state governance” as the root cause of challenges faced by the country today. Several underlying problems include a growing gap between government policies and constitutional principles and increasingly centralized decision-making.
Read also: Indonesia’s democracy problem is not backsliding, but weak foundations
As part of the first stage of the nation’s reform, the group called an end to “the destruction of democracy”, demanding Prabowo’s administration halt unconstitutional practices in governance and restore independence of key state institutions to support the rule of law for the year ahead.
“Stop practices in government that run against the Constitution and restore public trust in public institutions,” said constitutional expert Bivitri Susanti, also a member of the forum. “This agenda is intended to lay the foundation for deeper reforms in the next stage.”
