TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Prabowo Subianto once again addressed the "Indonesia Gelap" (Dark Indonesia) movement. This time, he accused the mindset and hearts of the group propagating the narrative of dissatisfaction with the state of Indonesia as "not good enough."
The Head of State made the remarks during the inauguration of an electric commercial vehicle assembly plant owned by PT VKTR Sakti Industries in Magelang, Central Java, on Thursday, April 9, 2026. "Those who say [that Indonesia] is not bright, those who say Indonesia is dark, perhaps their eyes are not good enough. Their eyes and their hearts. Well, what can we do? If someone's heart is not sincere, their vision is blurred, well, then Indonesia is dark," Prabowo said as quoted from a broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel on Thursday, April 9, 2026.
The Gerindra Party chief patron asserted that the future of Indonesia is bright. He even declared that Indonesia will become stronger and more powerful in the future. "Our growth is good. Next year, we will create a surprise for the entire world. Indonesia is rising. This giant is waking up. We will not be anymore the sleeping giant; we are rising," he said.
This is not the first or second time President Prabowo has alluded to the "Dark Indonesia" narrative. Only yesterday, Prabowo stated that he does not believe the current condition of the country is dark.
He expressed this during a briefing to the Red and White Cabinet and institutional leaders at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. To his cabinet assistants, Prabowo conveyed his optimism regarding the future of Indonesia in the midst of a turbulent global situation.
"There is no dark Indonesia; Indonesia is bright when many countries are in difficulty," Prabowo said on Wednesday.
The "Dark Indonesia" campaign first emerged in early 2025. This narrative was raised as a slogan to criticize the administration of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
In February 2025, "Dark Indonesia" became the theme of a demonstration demanding accountability for several policies of the Prabowo government that were deemed not in favor of the people. The hashtag #IndonesiaGelap was also widely used across social media.
At the Congress of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) in Solo, Central Java, in July 2025, Prabowo accused the masses demonstrating under the slogans "Indonesia Gelap" and "Kabur Aja Dulu" (Let's just run away) of being paid by corruptors.
The corruptors, according to Prabowo, want Indonesia to remain chaotic. "They want Indonesia to always be tumultuous, Indonesia to always be poor. Well, it is those corruptors who finance those demonstrations—Indonesia is dark," Prabowo said in his address at the PSI Congress in Central Java on Sunday, July 20, 2025.
Hendrik Yaputra contributed to this article.
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