Follow Proper Channels for Dissent: President
President Prabowo has addressed recent calls from government critics for his early removal less than two years into his term, saying that he welcomes public criticism but insists that any attempt to unseat him must follow constitutional procedures. While insisting that his administration has been “effective” at running the country since he took office in October 2024, Prabowo acknowledged that some groups may be dissatisfied with his administration’s performance and may seek a change in leadership. He said: “If the government is deemed unsatisfactory, then replace it. There are mechanisms to do so peacefully and properly: through elections, which is fine, or through impeachment, which is also fine. There is no issue with this.” “But impeachment must follow the proper channels, through the House of Representatives, the Constitutional Court and the People’s Consultative Assembly [MPR],” he stressed, calling on the public to “trust the system” built by the country’s founding father.
Twist of Fate: Chief Ombudsman Arrested
The Attorney General’s Office has arrested the country’s chief ombudsman just six days after his appointment for allegedly taking a bribe from a local nickel company, authorities said on Thursday. Prosecutors arrested Hery Susanto, said Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, AGO’s director of investigations. He was inaugurated as Indonesia’s chief ombudsman by President on April 10. Hery allegedly received Rp 1.5 billion (US$87,540.12) from a nickel company during his period as a board member with the Indonesian Ombudsman Office from 2021 to 2026. Syarief told reporters that the nickel company, identified only as TSHI, encountered problems related to the calculation of it’s fine.
Deforestation Remains an Issue
Indonesia has seen its highest level of forest loss in almost a decade in 2025, the first full year under President whose administration has been expanding large-scale food and energy estates in critical deforested islands, according to a new report from Auriga Nusantara. Using satellite imagery analysis and field verification, the environmental watchdog found that more than 430,000 hectares of forest area nationwide, around six times the size of Singapore, were cleared in 2025. Launched in Jakarta on March 31, the Indonesia Deforestation Status 2025 (STADI 2025) report highlights that land clearing surged 66 percent last year compared to 2024, reversing the country’s declining deforestation trend over the past decade. Prabowo Subianto “The surge in deforestation in 2025 was truly alarming, taking Indonesia back to a period when it was at its highest,” Auriga executive director Timer Manurung said during the launch event. He was referring to the deforestation rate in 2016, when more than 1 million ha of forest were cleared, the highest level in a decade at that time. The watchdog pointed to the government’s ambitious food and energy self-sufficiency agenda, executed under the banner of national strategic projects (PSN), as among the major drivers of the surge in deforestation. For example, the 2025-2029 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) has allocated 4 million ha, nearly the size of the Netherlands, for domestic rice cultivation to generate an additional 10 million tons of the staple grain. Regions prioritized for rice field development include Central Kalimantan, South Sumatra and South Papua. In South Papua’s Merauke regency alone, around 2.3 million ha is slated for rice and sugarcane plantations. (Jakarta Post)