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View all search resultsMaximum coalition, minimum performance
Political stability at the elite level has not yet translated into improvements in the economy, public services and the quality of governance.
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President Prabowo Subianto (right) and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (second left) congratulate and shake hands with new cabinet members on Oct. 1 during a cabinet reshuffle at the State Palace in Jakarta. (Antara/Galih Pradipta)
Two years into President Prabowo Subianto's administration, a series of paradoxes stand out.
Growth is reported as high, yet public evaluation of the economy is negative. Inflation is reasonably under control - below 4 percent, even below 3 percent - yet the public complains about high prices for basic staples. Government programs are reported as successful, yet public support keeps declining. The political coalition is very large and stable, yet the cabinet has already been reshuffled eight times, and public satisfaction with performance keeps falling.
Politically, the coalition is maximal, but government performance is not, by the same measure, maximal.
A large coalition in a multiparty presidential system is indeed built to guarantee government stability and ensure political support for implementing various government policies. Little wonder, then, that public support and expectations at the beginning of Prabowo’s administration - as reported by LSI, Kompas, and Indikator surveys around January-February 2025 - reached the range of 80 percent.
However, the administration's first two years reveal a gap between the scale of power held and the results felt by the public. Political stability at the elite level has not yet translated into improvements in the economy, public services and the quality of governance.
A national survey by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) in early October shows this symptom clearly. The public satisfaction rate stood at 44.5 percent, while dissatisfaction reached 53 percent.
The coalition the President has built is no longer merely "oversize" - it is "supersize”. The number of parties and groups that must be accommodated keeps growing, and so does the need to distribute positions. A large cabinet raises coordination costs. And when nearly every political force has joined the government, the legislature's oversight and corrective function weakens.
