As Prabowo’s approval hits 80%, will the ‘honeymoon’ last for Indonesia’s president?

Name: Indonesia’s ambitious free school meals programme begins, but will Jakarta eat the bills?
Uploaded: 2025-01-24T00:00:23.000Z
Duration: 7 min 16 s
Description: Indonesia’s ambitious free school meals programme begins, but will Jakarta eat the bills?

Analysts and activists say Prabowo Subianto’s high approval rating may falter if cabinet discord and militarisation issues persist

Reading Time:4 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto prepares to welcome Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence before their meeting in Jakarta in November. Photo: AP

Resty Woro Yuniar

Published: 8:00am, 24 Jan 2025

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s populist programmes have helped him earn an approval rating of over 80 per cent in his first 100 days of office, according to one pollster, but rights activists and analysts say a surge in militarisation and cabinet discord threaten to put an end to his “honeymoon period”.

Their misgivings come as a recent Litbang Kompas survey of 1,000 respondents, conducted from January 4 to 10, indicated that just 19.1 per cent of Indonesians were dissatisfied with Prabowo and Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

The pollster noted that their rating eclipses former president Joko Widodo’s 65.1 per cent approval after his first 100 days in office. Widodo, who is Gibran’s father, ended his second term last year with 75.6 per cent approval before transferring the presidency to Prabowo on October 20.

Prabowo said the high rating made him and his cabinet “proud” during a speech in West Java on Monday in which he listed his administration’s early achievements.

“During New Year’s Eve, all ministers were working. Fuel is under control. Food prices are under control. Airfares have dropped for the first time in the history of the republic,” the president said.

07:16

Indonesia’s ambitious free school meals programme begins, but will Jakarta eat the bills?

Widodo told reporters on Monday that he “was not surprised” to see his successor’s favourable rating as his visits with “grass roots” voters over the past three months showed that “the community’s appreciation is very high … for the performance of President Prabowo”.