Jaleswari on 2 Years of Prabowo-Gibran: Centralized Control, Diminishing Protection

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Head of Indonesia Laboratory (LAB) 45, Jaleswari Pramodhawardani, concluded that political control has become increasingly centralized during the two years of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka's administration.

"Our findings can be summarized in one sentence: Centralized control, diminishing protection," Jaleswari stated during the Media Briefing on the 2nd Anniversary of the Prabowo-Gibran Administration at the Aryaduta Hotel, Central Jakarta, on Thursday (22/10/2026).

The former Deputy V for Politics, Law, Defense, Security, and Human Rights at the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) explained that centralized control refers to the control over budgets and authority shifting from regional governments to the central government.

As for the protection she mentioned as diminishing, it pertains to civil society protections.

"We've found a similar pattern where budgets and powers have transitioned to the central government along with flagship programs. Meanwhile, the functions that protect citizens on a daily basis, local services, victim protection agencies, and crisis communication have actually shrunk," she said.

Jaleswari revealed that in the fiscal sector, the share of transfers to regions (TKD) dropped from nearly 25 percent of state expenditure in 2025 to 18 percent in 2026.

This Master's degree holder in strategic and global studies from the University of Indonesia (UI) stated that the current TKD condition reflects the largest one-year decline in two decades.

"In the same year, debt interest was budgeted at nearly IDR 600 trillion, accounting for over 80% of all funds transferred to regions, and 153 regional governments received no physical Special Allocation Funds (DAK) at all," she explained.

Furthermore, in the defense sector, Jaleswari highlighted that contracts for early warning aircraft and new fighter jets still do not exist.

She emphasized that these are needs that have been planned for a long time.

Women's Protection Conditions

The former researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) reviewed the women's protection conditions over the past two years based on records from the National Commission on Violence Against Women.

"Third, women's protection. The National Commission on Violence Against Women recorded over 376,000 cases of gender-based violence against women throughout 2025, which is the highest in the last decade," said Jaleswari.

Although she observed that violence against women is high, the budget for the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) does not seem ideal.

"However, the indicative budget for the PPPA in 2027 is only around IDR 187 billion, more than a third lower than the realization in 2025. For comparison, the National Nutrition Agency received IDR 240 trillion," Jaleswari detailed.

Public Communication Issues

The last aspect that Jaleswari critiqued was public communication.