March 13, 2025
JAKARTA – Five months after stepping down from the country’s top office, former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has been hosting meetings with a number of government officials and political figures, raising questions about the extent of his influence over the administration of his successor, President Prabowo Subianto.
Jokowi, who left office in October 2024 after a decade as president, has been receiving ministers and other top government figures at his private residence in his hometown of Surakarta, Central Java.
One of the latest meetings was on March 7, when Prabowo’s brother and top advisor Hashim Djojohadikusumo spoke with the former president for two hours on various issues, including the country’s financial situation.
After telling reporters that he had been invited by Jokowi, Hashim told reporters, “We discussed and exchanged ideas about the country and nation. I also received some advice that was really valuable.”
He added that Prabowo had sent his regards to his predecessor and expressed hope that the two politicians could meet “in the near future”.
Jokowi, however, claimed he did not talk politics during his meeting with Hashim.
Read also: Prabowo, Jokowi present united front at Gerindra event
The former president did not only meet with officials in person; he had a video call on March 4 with Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni on energy and food security. The minister said they discussed areca palm and its potential as a sustainable fuel source.
“Jokowi is currently engaging with a community in Kendal to see the areca palm forest they grew,” the minister wrote on his Instagram account, referring to a regency in Central Java.
“Like Pak President Prabowo who pays attention to areca palm for energy and food resilience, Pak Jokowi is also working hard to push for village community empowerment through areca palm,” said Raja, who is also the secretary general of the Indonesia Solidarity Party (PSI), which is chaired by Jokowi’s son Kaesang Pangarep.
Among the many officials who have paid recent visits to Jokowi are Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia and Investment and Downstream Minister Rosan Roeslani.
Prabowo himself has met with his predecessor several times since his inauguration in October 2024. The former Army general ran with Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the 2024 presidential election, and observers credited their victory to the former president’s tacit support, among other factors.
Still influential
The number of officials visiting Jokowi for advice and discussion suggests his “special” place in Prabowo’s government, said political analyst Adi Prayitno.
“Hashim can be seen as a representative of Prabowo’s coalition itself, so it’s only fair that people speculate about what their discussion on the economy might lead to,” he said on Wednesday.
He suggested that Hashim and Jokowi’s discussion in Surakarta was connected to Prabowo’s meeting with the country’s top businesspeople at the State Palace on the same day, which was also attended by United States investor and hedge fund manager Raymon Thomas Dalio.
Read also: ‘Don’t cross the line’: Jokowi tells son Gibran
Such meetings, Adi believed, defied early expectations that the former president would lose influence after leaving office with no political party in hand.
Jokowi parted ways with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) after he threw his weight behind Prabowo in the presidential election, rather than the party’s nominee, former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo. The nationalist party, which is the only party in effective opposition to Prabowo’s administration, announced Jokowi’s dismissal in December of last year.
“These visits by ministers show that he still retains power,” Adi said, “and his advice is still sought after and deemed important to decide future strategic policies under the current government.”
Warm friendship
Analyst Kennedy Muslim of pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia said the phenomenon stemmed from Prabowo and Jokowi’s cordial relationship.
“So far, we see that Prabowo is still friendly with Jokowi, in line with the former’s loyal reputation, and knows how to repay his predecessor, who played a big role in helping him win the election,” Kennedy said.
He added that both politicians “still need each other” for political consolidation and stability as public trust in the government was being tested by a series of controversies.
Despite enjoying a high approval rating during his first three months in office, Prabowo and his administration recently took criticism that later grew into street protests over budget cuts for programs that many considered ineffective.
Jokowi’s involvement in the current administration is also believed to be part of Prabowo’s inclusive approach toward all major figures in his big-tent coalition. The former president was recently given a seat on the supervisory board of the country’s new sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, along with fellow former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
“It’s not difficult to read Prabowo’s modus operandi in politics, which tends to embrace all parties and echoes national unity as the state’s political ideology,” Kennedy said.
Read also: Growing dissent puts Prabowo’s leadership to test
The real test of both politicians’ relationship could come in the future, the analyst suggested, if the sitting president’s approval rating began to take a dive and economic conditions worsened.
“Only time will tell if [such a situation] could crack their friendly relationship.”