President Prabowo Subianto delivering a speech on March 4 during a cabinet meeting and iftar event at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. - Courtesy of State Secretariat
JAKARTA: Just weeks after public protests over government policies and large bureaucracy, President Prabowo Subianto instructed his cabinet ministers to roll out several new populist policies; a move observers call an attempt to regain public trust amid controversies hitting his administration.
The President delivered the instruction during a cabinet meeting and iftar with dozens of ministers and agency heads to discuss updates on several of his priority programmes. The event was held behind closed doors in the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta, but several officials, including First Deputy Home Minister Bima Arya Sugiarto, talked to journalists on what Prabowo told his cabinet during the iftar.
