October 26, 2025 | 10:06 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Since President Prabowo Subianto took office on October 20, 2024, his administration has faced intense public criticism. Several of his flagship programs, including the free nutritious meal (MBG) initiative, have run into major challenges. Ministers in the Red and White Cabinet—many of them Prabowo’s close confidants—have repeatedly sparked controversy with their policies and statements.
One of Prabowo’s subordinates who has repeatedly sparked controversy is Minister of Culture Fadli Zon. He stated that the rape cases during the May 1998 riots were not mass rapes. The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) of 2014–2019 is also deemed to be attempting to erase a dark period of Indonesia through a history rewriting program.
In an interview with Tempo at his private library in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, on Friday, October 17, 2025, Fadli elaborated on Prabowo’s key priorities. “MBG is a priority program that was designed by Pak Prabowo a long time ago, since 2004,” said the doctor from the Faculty of Humanities’ History Department, University of Indonesia.
Fadli has known Prabowo for over 30 years, when President Suharto’s son-in-law was a lieutenant colonel. Their relationship remained strong ever since. Fadli has stood by Prabowo’s side through four presidential elections since 2009. “I always believed Prabowo was destined to become president, even when he kept losing,” he said.
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