Assign Gibran To The G20 Summit, Prabowo Wants Jokowi's Son To Be Busy Taking Care Of Indonesia

JAKARTA The assignment of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka to attend the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, by President Prabowo Subianto received the spotlight of political communication expert Hendri Satrio.

He considered that President Prabowo wanted Gibran to also appear to be actively contributing to running the government, not just replacing Prabowo to attend ceremonial events.

"Prabowo may also want Gibran to be busy taking care of Indonesia, so far the public is assessing what Gibran is doing outside the ceremonial is invisible," said Hensat, Sunday, November 23.

Nevertheless, he understands that the public is still questioning Gibran's decision to assign Gibran to the G20 Summit.

The reason is, public perceptions now highlight the differences in experience and the quality of leadership between Prabowo and Gibran.

"It's natural if the public asks why Gibran left for South Africa. Because so far the public considers that there is a quality imbalance between Prabowo and Gibran in leading the government," added Hensat.

The founder of the KedaiKOPI Survey Institute suspected that this assignment was seen as Prabowo's effort to provide an opportunity for Gibran to demonstrate his ability on the international stage as well as answer public doubts about his capacity as vice president.

Previously, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya stated thatw President Prabowo could not attend the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on November 22, 2025.

According to Teddy, the decision was taken because the schedule for meeting world leaders coincided with a number of important agendas by the President in the country.

"Yes, that's right. The schedule for the G20 Summit in South Africa coincides with several presidential agendas in the country, so that the Vice President will represent it at the G20," he said.

In addition, as a form of diplomatic respect, the government has also sent the Deputy Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs as the President's special envoy on the agenda.

The envoy was assigned to meet directly with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to submit an official letter requesting President Prabowo's absence from the event.