JakartaPost-Oct 2, 2026
President Prabowo Subianto has replaced National Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo as well a senior minister linked to former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in a cabinet shake-up keen observers consider an attempt to further consolidate control among his loyalists. In his biggest reshuffle to date, Prabowo on Thursday removed three cabinet members, reassigned five to other positions and appointed six people from his large pool of core supporters. He also appointed four new leaders to several state agencies. Police chief Listyo, who has held the position since 2021, was replaced by the former head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), Comr. Gen. Suyudi Ario Seto, after a confirmation hearing was pushed swiftly through by the House of Representatives earlier that morning. The former police chief has been appointed as the presidential chief of staff, whose function has been diminished since the formation of the Government Communications Agency (Bakom) under Prabowo’s leadership. The reshuffle also saw Prabowo removing Pratikno, another of Jokowi’s close aides, from his post as coordinating minister for human development and cultural affairs. Pratikno was replaced by Sugiono, a politician of Prabowo’s own Gerindra Party who previously served as foreign minister. The replacement of Listyo and Pratikno has since drawn attention among analysts because of their longstanding associations with Prabowo’s predecessor Jokowi, who appointed both during his presidency. Listyo, a 1991 graduate of the Police Academy, already had close ties with then-Surakarta mayor Jokowi back when he was still the city’s police chief. Listyo was appointed National Police chief by Jokowi in January 2021, having experienced a quick rise in rank following his appointment as Jokowi’s presidential adjutant in 2014. Pratikno, meanwhile, was a Gadjah Mada University (UGM) rector before serving as state secretary throughout Jokowi’s decade in office, becoming one of Jokowi’s closest aides whom Prabowo kept in his administration when he was elected in October 2024. Political analyst Lili Romli of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said it was hard not to connect the shake-up of Listyo and Pratikno with political dynamics between Prabowo and Jokowi. He said the reshuffle, the seventh since Prabowo took office in 2024, showed the President increasingly surrounding himself with officials closer to him. Read more at:
