President Prabowo’s Move to Form an Investigation Team to Address the 17+8 Public Demands Draws Praise
Jakarta – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto affirmed his readiness to follow up on public aspirations that emerged following the large-scale demonstrations at the end of August 2025.
The President stated that some of the 17+8 People’s Demands could be met, while others still needed to be discussed.
“Yes, I think we’ll study some of them, some of them are reasonable, some we can negotiate, some we can debate. I said, I think many of the demands are reasonable, many of them I think are normative, and we can discuss them properly,” Prabowo said.
One of the demands that received a positive response was the formation of an independent investigation team regarding the case of Affan Kurniawan (21), an online motorcycle taxi driver who died after an accident involving a police tactical vehicle.
“I think this independent investigative team makes sense. I think it’s reasonable. I think it can be discussed, and we’ll see what form it takes,” he stressed.
The President’s stance was well received by the National Conscience Movement (NAM), which recently met with Prabowo.
Former Minister of Religion, Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, said the President listened seriously to all points of the aspirations conveyed.
“The President received our message well. He even discussed our points in detail, point by point,” Lukman said.
He added that Prabowo had agreed to the proposal to form an independent investigative team to investigate the August riots.
“The President has approved the formation, and the Palace will later announce the format and details,” he explained.
Not only that, GNB also proposed an evaluation of police performance.
The Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), Gomar Gultom, assessed that this step was important to restore public trust.
“The National Conscience Movement also conveyed the need for police evaluation and reform, which the President also welcomed, with the intention of immediately forming a police reform team or commission. I believe this also stems from the considerable public demand,” Gomar said.
With his commitment to form an investigation team and a police reform team, President Prabowo is seen as demonstrating his seriousness in responding to the people’s aspirations.
This step also demonstrates the President’s commitment to maintaining transparent democracy and protecting the people’s sovereignty.
