The Jakarta Post
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.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsIn search of excellent and honorable minds in Indonesian politics
As President Prabowo marks two years in office, the true test of his administration is not the tally of his policies but whether it is forging the intellectual and moral backbone required to govern a great republic like Indonesia.
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!
Set as preferred source
President Prabowo Subianto inspects the implementation of the free nutritious meals program on June 2, 2026, at State Junior High School (SMPN) 111 Jakarta. (Courtesy of/The Palace's Press Bureau (BPMI))
A
s President Prabowo Subianto completes the second year of his term next month, perhaps the more critical question is not simply what the government has achieved, but what kind of political mind is being cultivated in the process of governing the nation.
Two years is long enough to observe the trajectory of an administration, yet too early to regard its historical legacy as settled. This makes the second-year mark an opportunity to ask a foundational question: What does Indonesia require from the minds of those who govern it?
Perhaps the answer begins with a demanding proposition: Public leadership must be guided by what is true, honorable, just and worthy of excellence. While these may sound like timeless moral abstractions, they carry acute, practical implications for statecraft.
The quality of a political system ultimately depends not only on the architecture of its institutions and the breadth of its policies but also on the caliber of judgment exercised by the individuals who operate them. Indonesia therefore needs not merely sharp political minds but also an ethos of excellence and honor in public thought.
An excellent mind grasps complexity. It distinguishes symptoms from causes, fleeting popularity from long-term national interest and tactical maneuvers from strategic statecraft. It remains disciplined in the face of evidence, comfortable with uncertainty and open to competing perspectives.
An honorable mind adds moral weight to that intellect. It asks whether an action is worthy of public office, recognizing that state power is never merely an instrument for winning elections or preserving coalitions but a sacred public trust.
Yet neither intelligence nor honor suffices without character. The caliber of political leadership rests not merely on intellect but on the character that governs its use. Intelligence comprehends; wisdom discerns; character endures when power, pressure and temptation mount.
