President Prabowo Subianto (front, centre left) and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (front, centre right) pose with Rad and White Cabinet ministers in front of the State Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 21, 2024. - Photo: AFP
JAKARTA: President Prabowo Subianto has cautiously responded to a set of demands from a group of retired Indonesian Military (TNI) officers, who called for the removal of ministers linked to his predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the replacement of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, eldest son of the former president.
A group of retired military officers, under the banner of “Retired TNI Soldiers Forum”, issued a public statement last week as their response to the current political situation.
The statement outlined eight key demands for the President, including the carrying out of a cabinet reshuffle to remove “corrupt ministers”.
They also called on Prabowo to take “strict action” against “state officials who are still tied to the interests of former president Jokowi”.
The group also proposed the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) replace Gibran, arguing that the Constitutional Court’s ruling that altered the age requirement for presidential and vice presidential candidates “violated [...] procedural law and the law on judicial power”.
The court decision paved the way for Gibran to run alongside Prabowo in the 2024 presidential election.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday (April 24), Special Presidential Advisor on Political and Security Affairs Wiranto said that he discussed the group’s proposals with Prabowo.
Wiranto, who himself is a retired Army general and former TNI commander, said Prabowo respected and understood the perspectives shared by the fellow veterans.
He added that the President would study carefully the demands, while emphasising constitutional boundaries that need to be upheld.
“As a head of state and government, the President’s authority is not without limits,” Wiranto said.
“There is a clear separation among the executive, legislative and judicial powers. They cannot interfere in each other’s domains.”
He added that Prabowo would remain committed to accommodating input from all parties, but noted that any steps taken must comply within the Constitution and legal framework.
“If there are proposals that are not within the President’s domain, of course, the President won’t answer or respond to them,” the former TNI commander continued.
President Prabowo Subianto (second left) shakes hands with Special Presidential Advisor on Politics and Security Wiranto (right) during an Idul Fitri open house at the State Palace in Jakarta on March 31, 2025. - Photo: Antara
Calls for unity
Wiranto went on to say that Prabowo had asked the public not to turn the issue into a political controversy. “We are facing many serious challenges,” Wiranto said.
“What we need now is peace and calm in society. Let’s work together in unity to face the real problems confronting the country.”
A photo of the group’s official statement that recently circulated on social media suggested that the eight-point demands had the support of 332 retired senior officers, including 103 generals.
Among the generals signing the statement, dated February, were former vice president Try Sutrisno; former deputy TNI commander and religious minister Fachrul Razi; former Army chief of staff Tyasno Soedarto; former Navy chief of staff Slamet Soebijanto; and former Air Force chief of staff Hanafie Asnan.
The group also strongly supported Asta Cita, Prabowo’s eight core missions, but “excluding the continuation of the new capital city Nusantara project”.
The capital relocation plan, estimated to cost around Rp 466 trillion (US$27.6 billion), is often seen as a key part of Jokowi’s political legacy.
Other demands included reinstating the original version of the 1945 Constitution and restoring the National Police to their primary role of maintaining public order under the Home Ministry.
Rift within?
The demands from the former military officers surfaced amid speculation over divided loyalties in Prabowo’s cabinet, following a series of visits by some of his ministers to Jokowi’s private residence in Surakarta, Central Java.
Among these were Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono and Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who publicly referred to the former president as their “boss” despite them now serving under Prabowo.
The President recently sidelined Hasan Nasbi, who has been leading the Presidential Communication Office (PCO) since its establishment in the last months of Jokowi’s administration, by appointing State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, also a politician of his Gerindra Party, as the presidential spokesperson.
But Prasetyo denied that he was appointed spokesperson to replace Hasan, asserting that he “works together” with the PCO after he was “asked to help” the communications office.
Prabowo also recently called on his ministers to maintain unity within his administration, which was conveyed during a phone call on April 20 to Coordinating Social Empowerment Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, who chairs the pro-government National Awakening Party (PKB).
Muhaimin was hosting a post-Idul Fitri social gathering in Jakarta, attended by several cabinet members and politicians belonging to parties in Prabowo’s coalition.
Prasetyo denied that Prabowo’s demand for unity signaled a rift in the cabinet, saying that the President often encouraged ministers to stay united to maintain the morale of the administration. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
