President Prabowo Subianto welcoming seven senior journalists at his private residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java on April 6, 2025. - Courtesy of the President's media team)
JAKARTA: President Prabowo Subianto recently hosted a hand-picked media interview session at his private residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, amid the government’s public relations crisis that comes after a series of tone-deaf remarks from high-ranking officials and growing accusations that his administration has shut down public criticism.
The three-and-a-half-hour in-depth interview featuring seven senior journalists, including six editors-in-chief, took place on Sunday (April 6) morning and was the first since the 73-year-old former Army general assumed office in October of last year.
First Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Angga Raka, who organised the event, claimed none of the questions were staged and that the President went into the interview without prior briefing.
An excerpt from the interview showed Prabowo being asked about the nationwide demonstrations that followed the controversial revision to the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law last month, which stoked concerns about military overreach and the return of the TNI’s dwifungsi (dual function) that prevailed during the New Order regime of Suharto, Prabowo’s former father-in-law.
The former defence minister acknowledged the concerns but attributed them to the public receiving outdated and inaccurate drafts.
The President further reaffirmed his commitment to the spirit of the Reform Era, which emerged after the fall of Suharto’s three-decade authoritarian rule, emphasising the goal of curtailing the military’s influence in civilian affairs.
“The main point of the [law revision] is to raise the retirement age. It's difficult for the TNI to grow as an organisation if we must replace the commander every few years. There are no other agendas [behind it],” he said.
Prabowo was also asked to rate his administration's performance by far on a scale of 1 to 10, to which he gave a score of 6, noting that some aspects needed to be improved, including communication with the public.
The President said that the blame lay with him because he had focused his attention solely on having his priority programme hit the ground running in his first months in office.
“This meant my team fell behind [in public communication]. At the time, we believed that if we could deliver and the public felt the result, they would trust us. [The lack of communication] is my fault,” he said
This was at least the third time that Prabowo acknowledged a PR problem plaguing his administration.
Last month, the President twice warned the over 100 members of his extensive Red and White Cabinet to improve public communication — once during a plenary meeting on March 21 and again in a closed-door meeting three days later.
These warnings followed public outrage sparked by tone-deaf and provocative remarks from several top officials.
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) head Hasan Nasbi, for example, found himself in hot water after suggesting that a Tempo journalist who received a pig’s head in an alleged intimidation attempt should "just cook it."
When asked for a response to Hasan’s statement, Prabowo said during the Sunday interview that new people in the cabinet were sometimes “careless when speaking” and that those with a background in academia might have a harder time adjusting to holding a highly public post.
“It was a careless statement. I think he regrets it,” the President said.
Prabowo himself shrugged off criticism over some of his policies by saying “let the dogs bark” in a speech last month.
To this end, observers saw Sunday’s interview as Prabowo’s own attempt to manage the ongoing PR crisis and to show government officials how to properly engage with the public.
“The belief that the Prabowo administration is ‘out of touch’ stems from a lack of direct communication channels to the President.
Last Sunday’s interview set a good precedent for fixing this issue, particularly when economic challenges that require clear policy communication are looming” Kennedy Muslim of pollster Indikator Politik said on Monday.
Echoing Kennedy, political communications analyst Hendri Satrio posited that with Sunday’s interview, Prabowo was trying to dismiss accusations that his administration was anti-criticism and did not stand for free press.
“Prabowo wants to show that he is not only against the stifling of the press, but also that he is now looking to be more open to the media. This can hopefully also be replicated by his cabinet members and other government officials,” Hendri said on Monday.
But another political communication analyst, Kunto Adi Wibowo, argued that simply doing more interviews would not solve the more systemic issue of poor public engagement.
"The government’s style of communication is a loose cannon without strategies and guidelines, leading to misinformation and a lack of public trust. Public communication should play a bigger role in policymaking, rather than only coming after a crisis occurs,” he said. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
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