TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A political communication lecturer at Paramadina University, Hendri Satrio, said there was a communication gap between Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his ministers during the first year of his presidency.
Hensa, as he is known, observed that this gap is one of the main factors affecting the effectiveness of the government.
"So, in this one year, the biggest problem for Pak Prabowo is the quite long gap between him and the ministers. The gap is quite substantial," Hensa said in a statement on October 24, 2025.
According to Hensa, Prabowo has a grand vision to advance Indonesia, as stated in his inaugural speech, which touched on social inequality. However, this vision is not in harmony with the performance of his ministers.
The Executive Director of KedaiKOPI noted that only a few figures, such as Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, or younger figures like Sugiono, Teddy Indra Wijaya, Angga Raka Prabowo, Prasetyo Hadi, and Sudaryono, are deemed capable of effectively communicating with the president.
"Apart from those who have been in his inner circle for a long time, Prabowo seems unable to easily align his vision and mission with cabinet members from other parties," Hensa said. "Perhaps these ministers are even afraid to speak with Prabowo, just to inquire about the purpose of his programs and so on."
One of the impacts of this lack of harmony is a lack of coordinated policy communication. Hensa sees many policies that are not yet final but are announced and then revoked, causing confusion among the public.
"One of the impacts of this gap is, for instance, communication. We can see for ourselves many policies that are not yet confirmed, many of which are announced and then canceled, such as the three-kilogram gas case, and the compulsory import of fuel from Pertamina, just to name a few," Hensa stated.
Hensa appreciates that in the first year of his administration, Prabowo acknowledged this lack of harmony and made several improvements. One of which was to appoint the State Secretary Minister, Prasetyo Hadi, as the presidential spokesperson and to establish the Government Communication Agency as an effort to improve coordination and communication within the government.
"In the end, many things indeed need to be improved, but in my opinion, this first year should mark the end of the honeymoon period, and Pak Prabowo is slowly rectifying it; I fully appreciate this," Hensa said.
In addition to the need to narrow the gap between Prabowo and his ministers, Hensa also highlighted the role of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He believes that Gibran needs to be given a larger responsibility by Prabowo to make his contribution more significant and not merely a complement to the government.
"Gibran, as the vice president, needs to be forced to work. He needs to be given tasks; otherwise, this is wasting the country's money," Hensa said.
Hensa believes that Gibran should be genuinely involved in the government, even if Prabowo is reluctant to give the vice president a significant role.
"He must be involved, and he needs to be forced to be involved in this government. Even though Mr. Prabowo seems reluctant to fully involve him, create any programs that will keep him busy," Hensa said.
Hensa emphasized that Gibran's role must be more than symbolic to ensure that the significant state budget for the vice president's position is not squandered.
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Editor's Note: This article was corrected on Friday, October 24, 2025, at 11:11 a.m. Previously, it stated that Hendri Satrio was a lecturer at Padjadjaran University, which should have been Paramadina University. The editorial team apologizes for the mistake.
