March 12, 2025
JAKARTA – Arecent spate of accusations of nepotism and cronyism under the administration of President Prabowo Subianto has caused a public outcry, as experts warn of the potential impact on the government’s effectiveness and accountability.
The latest controversy was the appointment of Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni and fellow members of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) to the country’s Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU) Net Sink 2030 program.
The minister, who is also the secretary general of the PSI, appointed himself, party deputy chair Andy Budiman and at least ten other party members, including Andy’s wife Suci Mayang Sari, to the program’s Operation Management Office (OMO), prompting a public backlash over perceived cronyism and the potential misuse of funds.
Social media users and some lawmakers from other political parties called on donor countries to reassess their funding for the program.
Raja has yet to comment on the appointments but downplayed concerns about the potential misuse of funds.
Andy of the PSI did not immediately respond to The Jakarta Post’s questions.
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A similar allegation of nepotism was leveled against Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, whose younger brother Maroef Sjamsoeddin was appointed executive director of state-owned mining holding firm MIND ID earlier this month.
Maroef, a retired two-star Air Force officer, will oversee five mining giants, including PT Antam and PT Timah.
The State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry said Maroef was qualified for the position, noting that he had served as president director of Freeport Indonesia from 2015 to 2016.
Read also: Govt appoints defense minister’s brother to head mining holding MIND ID
The list of such allegations has been growing since Prabowo took office in October of last year. Figures considered Prabowo’s close confidants ended up holding strategic ministerial posts, including Sjafrie; Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Djiwandono, who is the President’s nephew; and Foreign Minister Sugiono, who was dubbed Prabowo’s “ideological son” for his closeness to the President.
Certain special presidential envoys have come under fire as well, including actor-turned-businessman Raffi Ahmad, who was part of Prabowo and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s campaign team for last year’s presidential election.
More blatant
Political analyst Abdil Mughis Mudhoffir of the University of Melbourne said Raja’s move of bringing in members of his political party was nothing new, as nepotism and cronyism in public office had been going on long before Prabowo’s administration.
“The dynasty of [former Banten governor] Ratu Atut Chosiyah is among the examples where politicians cleared the way for their family members to secure the top spots in public office,” Abdil said on Tuesday.
But analyst Yoes Kenawas said such political corruption had become “more blatant” since Gibran, the eldest son of Prabowo’s predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, was effectively cleared to run for vice president last year by the Constitutional Court. At the time, the court was led by then-chief justice Anwar Usman, Gibran’s uncle.
“Since the successful nomination of Gibran, who is a direct dynastic successor [of Jokowi], ethics has become less and less important for state administrators,” Yoes said. “Politicians now seem to think that all is fair as long as it does not violate the law, even if it violates ethics or there is a potential conflict of interest in it.”
Yoes said recent cases of nepotism could easily lead to conflicts of interest, such as the case of Sjafrie in the Defense Ministry and his brother Maroef in the state mining company.
“Such attempts at nepotism and cronyism are now more open and exposed, no longer taking any public criticism into account,” he added.
Bad governance
Analyst Abdil said the proliferation of nepotism and cronyism would “destroy the country’s democracy”.
“This results in the lack of any merit system in the government. Public officials are not selected based on competence but on favoritism and close personal relationships,” he said.
The phenomenon could also lead to “worsening governance and flourishing corruption” both in the central government and local administrations, Abdil said, pointing to the lack of professionals who had the skills to properly implement the government’s programs.
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A number of Prabowo’s flagship programs have come under fire for their apparent ineffectiveness, including the free nutritious meals program for schoolchildren and pregnant women, which has struggled with costly implementation and criticism over the meals’ nutritional value.
The nation’s newest sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, has also faced public concerns about mismanagement, considering the country’s long history of corruption scandals within its state-owned enterprises (SOEs).