Asked to Close Ranks, Proof Prabowo Subianto Doesn't Want Ministers to Manoeuvre

JAKARTA Executive Director of Indonesian Political Parameters (PPI), Adi Prayitno, believes that President Prabowo Subianto's message to ministers to close ranks cannot be seen just as a normative message while proving that the 8th President of the Republic of Indonesia is secretly monitoring the maneuvers of a number of ministers and deputy ministers who have repeatedly been seen at the residence of the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

President Prabowo's statement to ask ministers to close ranks is related to political events where a number of ministers and deputy ministers downstream came to Solo, he said, Sunday, April 27, 2025.

According to him, this ministerial visit raises the issue of twin suns, namely the suspicion that other political forces outside the president still have a big influence on the direction of loyalty of officials. Especially when there is a minister or deputy minister who states that Jokowi is still the boss, it will cause a negative public interpretation even though it is in the context of Eid al-Fitr relations.

Therefore, Prabowo's statement can be interpreted as a signal of hardness as a form of direct instruction so that there is no more individual maneuvers that can break the focus and stability of the government. "That there is no story that the minister does not coordinate with each other, there is no story that the minister is not solid, there is no story that the minister is not compact with each other," added Adi.

He emphasized that cohesiveness between ministries is not just bureaucratic ethics, but is the main key in maintaining the nation's resilience to face increasingly uncertain global challenges including external challenges that lurk, ranging from geopolitical tensions to world economic turmoil that is difficult to predict.

"So cohesiveness is the key to how Indonesia is able and able to face the problems faced in the future," said Adi.