TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
The government is mishandling a public relations crisis
It would do well for the Prabowo administration to take a page out of Jokowi's PR playbook on best public communications practices, lest it quickly come to be viewed as a pariah, especially following 10 years of a president who remains highly popular today.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
President and Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto (left) walks with former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Feb. 15, 2025, during the political party’s 17th anniversary event at the Sentul International Convention Center in Bogor, West Java. (Antara Foto/Hafidz Mubarak A )
T
he efforts of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration to consolidate power and cut spending across the government, particularly to reduce the burden of the ballooning national debt, require it to maintain good standing with the public.
That ceased to matter when the Defense Ministry controversially appointed Deddy Corbuzier as a special staffer, after the famed podcaster and influencer made insulting comments directed at a student during the early days of the free nutritious meal program in January.
This was soon followed by Prabowo’s own remarks at the Gerindra Party’s 17th anniversary celebration where, responding to criticisms about his unusually large government, he hurled the highly derogatory Javanese phrase ndasmu (literally “your head”). The audience, most of which comprised members of his own cabinet as well as high-level party officials from his governing coalition, could be heard laughing at what was clearly a distasteful joke.
Prabowo uttered the same phrase at a Gerindra function in December 2023, in response to a contender who raised a question on the ethics of his choosing Gribran Rakabuming Raka as his running mate.
Mounting disapproval of the Prabowo government’s policies and rhetoric has emerged in online spaces. Many Indonesian accounts on X and Instagram boasting large followings have helped popularize the hashtag #KaburAjaDulu (just run away), suggesting that those with the means should consider moving abroad.
This elicited yet another unnecessary statement from Deputy Manpower Minister Immanuel Ebenezer, who challenged that those who left should never return.
In exactly 120 days, the government’s actions and responses, including officials’ incendiary statements against public criticism, have helped incite mass student protests across the nation all the way to Papua, which peaked on Tuesday.
