JakartaPost-Aug 14
Calls for sweeping political and institutional reforms are intensifying ahead of President Prabowo Subianto ’s much-anticipated State of the Nation address, with the latest coming from academics warning of a deepening national and democratic crisis. Dozens of academics and intellectuals from the Interdisciplinary Intellectual Forum (FIAD), an independent intellectual collective, convened at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) in Central Jakarta on Thursday to launch a 16-page manifesto, outlining a three-stage set of demands to make Indonesia a “just, democratic, sovereign and sustainable state”. Among those involved in the manifesto were University of Indonesia (UI) professors Manneke Budiman, Sulistyowati Irianto and Theddeus OH Prasetyono, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) astronomy professor Premana Premadi, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) sociologist Arie Sudjito and writer Okky Madasari. The group highlighted what they described as a “decline in the quality of state governance” as the root cause of challenges faced by the country today. Several underlying problems include a growing gap between government policies and constitutional principles and increasingly centralized decision-making. “Stop practices in government that run against the Constitution and restore public trust in public institutions,” said constitutional expert Bivitri Susanti, also a member of the forum. “This agenda is intended to lay the foundation for deeper reforms in the next stage.” FIAD also highlighted “the crisis of rule of law” and the “collapse of checks and balances” among state institutions. They highlighted the state’s executive body and House of Representative, which is dominated by pro-government parties, having eroded constitutional safeguards by pushing through policies without transparency, public participation, scientific evidence or policy impact assessments. Several academics and intellectuals grouped under the Interdisciplinary Intellectual Forum (FIAD) read the manifesto calling for political and institutional reform during an event on Aug. 13 at Taman Ismail Marzuki in Central Jakarta. The manifesto came as Prabowo is set to deliver his State of the Nation address on Friday, when he is expected to defend his record, reaffirm his priorities and respond to critics before members of the People’s Consultative Assembly, composed of House lawmakers and Regional Representatives Council (DPD) senators. Prabowo, who won the 2024 election with a landslide victory, is seeing his popularity declining less than two years into his presidency. Read more at:
https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2026/08/14/calls-for-reform-grow-ahead-of-prabowos-state-address?utm_source=(direct)&utm_medium=home_headlines.
