May 20, 2026 | 08:06 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto slipped up during his speech at the parliament's plenary session on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. The president mistakenly mentioned that "teachers" are receiving nearly a 300 percent salary hike when, in fact, he meant to say "judges."He prefaced it by saying that a country seeking progress must have a strong government and bureaucracy. "There's no such thing as an advanced country without legal certainty," Prabowo said at the parliament building in Jakarta.Prabowo went on to say that he had raised the salary of judges, but misspoke and instead said, "That's why my government has raised the salaries of teachers, some seeing a nearly 300 percent hike." Upon realizing his mistake, Prabowo remained silent for a few seconds, and subsequently corrected himself. "(I meant) our judges, I apologize, judges," he said.Prabowo expressed his pride in receiving reports that the Chief Justice of the Indonesian Supreme Court has a higher income than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Singapore.Junior judges in Indonesia are also paid higher than their counterparts in Malaysia, he said.This, according to the former Defense Minister, is part of the effort to establish bribery-free justice institutions. "We don't want our judges bribed and bought," he said.During the same speech, Prabowo expressed his goal to ensure teachers' welfare, as the future of the nation hinges on the quality of education given to Indonesian children.Quality education, in turn, is determined by qualified teachers; hence, Prabowo said, improving the living conditions of Indonesian teachers "must be prioritized."On the other hand, Prabowo acknowledged the low salaries received by some teachers, law enforcement officers, and civil servants, which he blamed on, among others, the inability of Indonesia's state budget due to corrupt practices."What has happened is what we call under-invoicing, which is constituted as fraud," said Prabowo.Prabowo attended the plenary session of the House of Representatives (DPR) to present the macroeconomic and fiscal policy framework (KEM-PPKF), becoming the first Indonesian president to do so.Read: Prabowo to Use Technology to Track Corruptors' AssetsClick here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
