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View all search resultsPurbaya’s test and Prabowo’s enemies within
The new finance minister has become an inadvertent disrupter of a decade-long loyalty entrenched in the bureaucracy through his policies, grounded in economic rational, creating both hope among the public and a test for the President.
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Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa salutes on Sept. 8, 2025, as President Prabowo Subianto (right, back turned) installs him as the new finance minister during a ceremony at the State Palace in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Mentari Dwi Gayati)
A
t a time when the public has grown weary of economic rhetoric full of numbers but devoid of moral direction, the emergence of Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa as the new finance minister has ignited new debate.
He did not rise from the political stage but from the quiet, yet powerful, corridors of technocracy, his firm tone, sharp criticism and bold vision that challenges the status quo instantly capturing attention.
In a short time, Purbaya’s name has become both a symbol of hope and a litmus test for President Prabowo Subianto’s administration as it seeks balance between reformist courage and the old loyalties that still bind it.
Purbaya’s sudden prominence marks a new phase in Prabowo’s power dynamic. After years of economic communication dominated by jargon and bureaucratic caution, the public now finds a figure speaking with clarity, logic and moral conviction.
The public’s enthusiasm for the new finance minister reveals a kind of political placebo: hope for change often grows faster than policy outcomes. However, his emergence on the front lines of economic policy cannot be separated from deeper political shifts.
Purbaya is not merely a rational economist. He also represents a directional shift from a “stabilitocracy” to structural reform. In a bureaucratic culture accustomed to euphemisms and compromise, his tone directly confronts inefficiency, waste and rent seeking.
His statements on debt control, the efficiency of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the evaluation of the previous government’s megaprojects carry moral weight; subtle reminders to the regime that speaking with data is a new form of political courage.
