The Prabowo Presidency: An early assessment

Indonesia’s new president, Prabowo Subianto, has been in office for a little over four months now. He won the election in 2024 largely on a continuity platform, promising to maintain the policy path of his predecessor, President Jokowi. Prabowo also portrayed himself as a reformed figure, and he abandoned the illiberal populist trappings that were central to his previous two presidential bids. But rather than continuity, these first few months of the Prabowo presidency have been marked by dramatic policy change, and student-led protests have re-emerged as well.

So, how is Prabowo settling into his new job as leader of one of the world’s largest democracies? What approach is he taking to governance, both in the political and economic realms? Is Prabowo keeping his promises? And what influence, if any, are Jokowi and his son, Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, having over the direction of Prabowo’s government?

To answer these questions and more, the ANU Indonesia Institute is convening an interactive panel discussion with experts from the ANU and University of Melbourne.

Speakers

Liam Gammon

Dr Liam Gammon is a Research Fellow at the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research at the Australian National University (ANU), where he also sits on the editorial board of East Asia Forum. He is also the editor of New Mandala. His research interests include political parties, elections, and populism in Asia, with a particular focus on Indonesia.

Marcus Mietzner

Marcus Mietzner is Associate Professor in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University. He has published widely on Indonesian politics, presidentialism, the political role of the military in Indonesia, Indonesian political parties, particularly campaign financing issues, and comparative electoral politics in Southeast Asia.

Ken Setiawan

Ken M.P. Setiawan is Senior Lecturer in Indonesian Studies at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne. She is also an Associate at the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society (CILIS) at the Melbourne Law School. Ken’s research interests include globalisation and human rights, as well as historical violence and transitional justice. She has widely published on the politics of human rights in Indonesia.

Moderator: Eve Warburton

Eve Warburton is Director of the ANU Indonesia Institute and a Research Fellow at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. Her research interests include democracy, development, resource politics and business-state relations in Asia, with particular expertise on Indonesia. Eve is also a 2025 Westpac Research Fellow.

Image: Rahmat, Public Relations of the Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia