TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Prabowo Subianto said Indonesia is as vast as Europe, from London in the west to Moscow in the east.
The head of state delivered the statement while attending the mass signing of 50,030 subsidized housing units through home loan (KPR) under the Housing Financing Liquidity Facility (FLPP) program, which are distributed across 33 provinces in Indonesia on Saturday, December 20, 2025.
Indonesia is even longer than the United States, Prabowo emphasized. "We span three time zones. Our territory spans as wide as from London to Moscow in Europe," Prabowo said as quoted from the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel, on Saturday, December 20, 2025.
Besides, Indonesia's population is on par with that of Western Europe, Prabowo said.
"They have 27 Finance Ministers, 27 Attorneys General, 27 Military Commanders, 27 Police Chiefs, 27 Bappenas (National Development Planning Agency), 27 Central Banks. Meanwhile, we only have one," he said, referring to members of the European Union.
Prabowo also expressed gratitude for Indonesia's 80 years of unity despite the reputation of being a diverse nation, with hundreds of ethnic groups and 718 regional languages, excluding the dialects. "There is a region in Papua with 17 valleys, and each valley speaks a different language," he said.
Prabowo then addressed various difficulties faced by Indonesia, reflecting on history. He spoke about various nations colonizing the newly emerging Indonesia, including Japan, England, and the Netherlands. And this newly independent country, he said, live different factions with their own ideologies, like communist or religious.
"We are fortunate that, due to our capable leaders at the time, youths from different groups, were able to unite. We had just finished reclaiming sovereignty but were disturbed and intervened continuously. This is not something I invented; this is history," he said.
Prabowo went on to talk about how the Netherlands attempted to seize Indonesia's sovereignty through the Legion of the Just Ruler (Angkatan Perang Ratu Adil, or APRA) led by Westerling. "Westerling attempted to kill the leaders of the Republic, take over. This is history. Then there are separatists after separatists," he said.
According to him, the Indonesian people are not aware of the vastness and richness of their own country. Nevertheless, there are parties who dislike big countries like Indonesia, hence the constant disturbance. "I'm talking about this because our goal as a nation is for the people who reside in Indonesia Nusantara to live prosperously. Our independence goal is for the people to prosper," said Prabowo.
Prabowo then wondered if the Indonesian people had prospered after 80 years of independence, to which he answered not yet. "Today, it is our effort, our endeavor, to help our weakest people, who are still not strong, who want to live with dignity, to live with a proper quality of life," said Prabowo, referring to the subsidized housing program.
The KPR-FLPP program is funded by the state budget and managed by BP Tapera (Housing Savings Management Agency). This program is intended to allow Low-Income Communities (MBR) to afford decent housing with low installments, as well as a fixed interest rate of 5 percent for up to 20 years.
A total of 300 contracts were carried out on-site involving 11 distributing banks. Meanwhile, 49,730 other contracts were held online across 110 locations with 39 distributing banks in 33 provinces throughout Indonesia.
During this event, Prabowo symbolically handed over house keys to 10 recipients from various backgrounds. The President hopes that the KPR-FLPP program can continue to expand its reach, so that more people throughout Indonesia can benefit from the government's housing policy.
Read: Prabowo Inaugurates Mass Contract for 50,030 Subsidized Housing Units
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