TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka stated that the government is committed to improving the governance of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) and the Red and White Village Cooperative (Kopdes) projects. He emphasized that these efforts are aimed at ensuring that every single rupiah spent by the state benefits the people.
Gibran mentioned that the governance overhaul is also being carried out to ensure that program execution becomes more targeted, effective, and efficient. He stated, "And free from corrupt practices," in a written statement shared by the Vice Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday, June 17, 2026.
Gibran expressed that the efforts to refine the implementation of these two priority programs are intended to maintain public trust and enhance the government's fiscal capacity. "Therefore, it can enhance market confidence in the national economy," he added.
In a separate statement, Government Communication Chief Muhammad Qodari referred to the Free Nutritious Meal project as President Prabowo Subianto's "political contract" that must be executed. Qodari stated that the MBG program will not be halted, as demanded by several opposing factions.
"The initiative called MBG cannot simply be stopped immediately. Because that is the vision and political contract of Pak Prabowo. President Prabowo was elected on the back of these implemented work programs; those programs cannot be terminated," Qodari said in a written statement on Wednesday, June 17, 2026.
Meanwhile, Cooperatives Minister Ferry Juliantono questioned the motives of student elements who rejected the Red and White Village Cooperative program. He suspected that the students opposing the program were actually standing against a constitutional mandate. "This village cooperative is the mandate of the law," he said, invoking Article 33 of the 1945 Indonesian Constitution.
He stated that the Red and White Cooperative program aims to drive a productive economy with grassroots communities as the players. According to him, the public needs these business entities for the national economy to thrive.
He mentioned that an initiative of this scale is the first of its kind. Thus, Ferry admitted that the Red and White Cooperative program is not easy to implement, particularly when it comes to building infrastructure, establishing legal entities, and managing daily operations.
The Free Nutritious Meal and Red and White Village Cooperative programs have become two central targets of student demonstrations breaking out in several regions. One such protest was organized by a student alliance demonstrating at the Hotel Indonesia (HI) Roundabout in Jakarta on June 12, 2026.
Aside from demanding an immediate halt to the MBG and Red and White Village Cooperative projects, the BEM alliance representing campuses across Jakarta urged the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka administration to cease wasting the state budget.
They also demanded that the government lower the prices of staple foods and fuel, halt militarization in civilian spaces, and called on Prabowo to stop evading accountability and admit the flaws in his administration's policies.
Read: Palace: No Deal Reached Between VP Gibran and Student Protesters
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