JAKARTA: President Prabowo Subianto has said that the country might need to adopt a bit of an authoritarian approach to effectively combat corruption, while reaffirming his administration’s commitment to a tougher antigraft drive across all spheres of government.
Prabowo made the remark at the Indonesia Economic Outlook 2026 event on Friday (Feb 13) that was attended by government officials, businesspeople and foreign ambassadors.
In a light-hearted tone, apparently responding to accusations that he leads in an authoritarian manner, he suggested that tougher measures might be necessary to deal with those stealing from the country, including business players who circumvent the law and bureaucrats who misuse their positions for personal gain.
“Some groups keep complaining, saying things like, ‘Indonesia is in this state’, and that ‘Prabowo is authoritarian’. But if you ask the people, perhaps a little bit of authoritarianism is needed, just a little, to fight those corrupt [individuals]," Prabowo said.
Despite the remark, Prabowo, who was also a former army general, reaffirmed his commitment to democracy, noting that Indonesia remains a moderately democratic country and that the system has made his presidency possible.
“I am completely democratic, completely,” he told a laughing audience after noting the presence of journalists and Western ambassadors in the room.
“If there were no democracy, I would not have become President.”
Prabowo then vowed to take a zero-tolerance approach to corruption, abuse of power or manipulation across all levels of government, saying that the country must become a “new Indonesia” with a clean and accountable bureaucracy.
“We do not need to be ashamed that we have many shortcomings. Corruption is still widespread. We must eradicate corruption from the soil of Indonesia,” Prabowo said.
He also reiterated his commitment to ensuring legal certainty and called for strict adherence to the rule of law, noting that judicial decisions must be fair and not be used as “a tool to target political opponents”.
Since taking office a little more than a year ago, the President has repeatedly reasserted his pledge to fight against corruption and threatened to take unpopular steps to protect the nation’s resources.
The latest survey from Indikator Politik Indonesia found that anticorruption drives have become a major factor behind Prabowo’s 79.9 per cent approval rating, with perceived strong anticorruption measures topping the list at 17.5 per cent.
The survey, which polled 1,220 respondents from Jan 15 to 21, also found that 48.8 per cent respondents rated the government’s anticorruption performance as “good” or “very good”, 15.7 per cent as “moderate”, and 21.2 per cent as “bad” or “very bad”.
The figure marked an increase from the October 2025 survey, which found that 44.7 per cent of respondents gave a “good” or “very good” assessment of the government’s anticorruption campaign, up from 31.7 per cent in October 2024, when Prabowo took office.
But activist Yassar Aulia from the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) criticised Prabowo’s suggestion of a “little authoritarianism”, saying that it “only confirms numerous analyses suggesting his tendency to push Indonesia’s governance toward an autocratic model”.
“A successful anticorruption drive does not require podium rhetoric or authoritarian leadership,” Yassar said, adding that “on the contrary, an environment free of corruption is better ensured through public participation and transparency, two core elements of democracy”.
“Only with active societal involvement and a diffusion of executive power via checks and balances can a state’s commitment to anticorruption be truly visible,” Yasar said, adding that Prabowo’s first year in office has largely contradicted these principles.
He added that Prabowo’s authoritarian remark suggested that the President might not have fully considered findings in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from Berlin-based Transparency International, which found that “setbacks in the anticorruption agenda go hand in hand with a decline in the quality of democracy”.
Indonesia fell 10 places in the annual league table of global corruption, ranking 109th out of a total of 182 countries surveyed, with its score slipping from 37 in 2024 to 34 in the first full year of Prabowo’s administration.
This put Indonesia below the global average score of 42, on par with countries such as Nepal, which experienced political instability following a youth-led protest in September 2025 that led to the toppling of its prime minister.
Transparency International Indonesia (TII) cited declining quality in democratic leadership, weakening oversight institutions, declining judicial independence and shrinking civic freedoms as among the reasons contributing to Indonesia’s regression.
“Rising corruption in Indonesia has been linked to shrinking public spaces where media and citizens can express opinions freely, and to the erosion of judicial independence.
Courts are increasingly influenced by the executive branch,” TII secretary-general Danang Widoyoko said.
“Combating corruption requires restoring democracy, expanding civic space and ensuring judicial independence,” he noted. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
