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Calls mount for Prabowo to improve communication team, style
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President Prabowo Subianto holds his black cap before inaugurating 31 Indonesian ambassadors for Indonesian diplomatic missions at the State Palace in Jakarta on March 24, 2025. The President formally appointed 31 envoys following months of speculation and confirmation hearings at the House of Representatives. (Antara/Galih Pradipta )
P
resident Prabowo Subianto’s administration is facing mounting pressure to overhaul its communication team and change the way the government engages with the public after a series of dismissive remarks from officials.
The President has urged his cabinet twice over the past week to improve communication with the public, first in a speech opening a plenary cabinet meeting on March 21 and then at a closed-door meeting with ministers handling food and agriculture on Monday.
At the Monday meeting, Prabowo called on his ministers and deputy ministers to ensure that the public was accurately informed of the administration’s progress, according to officials who attended the meeting.
The President said many of the administration’s breakthroughs and policies had not been effectively communicated to the public.
"The President asked to improve [public] communication,” Deputy Agriculture Minister Sudaryono said after meeting with the President on Monday. “We must not let the people be swayed by misleading opinions or narratives.”
Prabowo’s orders come as his administration faces a storm of criticism over tone-deaf and brash rhetoric from government officials in response to public criticism, coupled with poor engagement with the public and opaque policymaking.
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) head Hasan Nasbi, for example, faced criticism for his response to the intimidation of journalists at news magazine Tempo, which has been publishing investigative reports critical of the government.
