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View all search resultsCivil groups push back on Prabowo’s 'unpatriotic observers' claim
A rights activist and a legal analyst are among those who have hit out at the President's claim last Friday that government critics were "not patriotic", describing the statement as ill-conceived and ill-timed, especially amid heightened fear after the acid attack on a Kontras advocate the day prior.
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President Prabowo Subianto delivers a statement on March 9, 2026, at his private residence in Hambalang village, Bogor, West Java. (Courtesy of Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau/Muchlis Jr)
S
everal civil society organizations (CSOs) have objected to a statement by President Prabowo Subianto that framed critiques from scholars as "not patriotic", saying the claim posed a threat to democratic discourse.
The President conveyed the sentiment during a plenary cabinet meeting at the State Palace on Friday, just a day after a group of unidentified people threw acid on human rights advocate Andrie Yunus of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
Read also: Activists defiant following acid attack on rights defender
“Some observers simply don’t want their own government to succeed due to various motivations. I’d say they are narrow-minded, not patriotic,” Prabowo said without identifying whom he meant by "observers".
“When the time comes, we will put them in order,” he continued.
Bhima Yudhistira, executive director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios), described Prabowo’s statement as reflecting a kind of paranoia as regards dissenting views.
Such a statement from the country's leader could force government critics into silence, he said, even if their criticisms were drawn from research and data. Regardless of any differences between data-based findings and official perspectives, the government should invite external observers to discussions, not threaten them.
