Fact-checking the President
From million-rupiah shallots to unverified nuclear claims, President Prabowo Subianto's off-script habits are turning presidential rhetoric into viral punchlines - and putting the nation’s credibility on the line.
A Presidential Address in August 14 featured President Prabowo Subianto making an audacious claim about the prosperity of his welfare programs. To illustrate the success, he introduced a woman named Susanah from Bogor, West Java, and stated she earned Rp 700,000 (equivalent to US$40) for peeling a kilogram of shallots.
However, social media quickly pointed out the discrepancy, calculating Susanah's actual income to be Rp 700 per day. Susanah was revealed to be a scrap-fabric seamstress, far below the poverty line, not a shallot peeler as originally stated. The error quickly became a viral punchline on social media platforms, including Threads and X, with comedians seizing on the mistake.
The President's spokesperson, Muhammad Qodari, head of the government's communications agency (Bakom), offered a half-hearted apology, attributing the mistake to a simple slip of the tongue. However, no formal correction was issued, and his response was described as thin. The government's adviser urged citizens not to "fry" the clip, indicating a dismissive attitude towards the inaccuracy.
This lack of a robust response raises questions about the seriousness with which a live address to the People's Consultative Assembly was treated.
Written by urgent.news from The Jakarta Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
