Prabowo's First 100 Days in Office Receive Low Marks from Many Journalists

The Center for Economic and Law Studies (Celios) evaluated the first 100 days of President Prabowo Subianto's performance by surveying 95 journalists with in-depth knowledge of the government's performance.

These journalists were asked to assess Prabowo's performance in terms of program achievements, the alignment of policy plans with public needs, leadership and coordination quality, budget management, and policy communication.

Journalists were chosen as respondents because of their experience in routinely observing the performance of public officials.

"Because their profession [journalists] requires them to find facts, verify information, and provide accurate and unbiased reports, they can provide a more objective and independent assessment," said Celios in a report titled *Prabowo-Gibran's 100-Day Report Card*.

The results, on a scale of 1-10, showed that the majority, or 24%, of respondents gave President Prabowo a score of 5 for his performance in the first 100 days.

Those giving high scores, above 7, were very few, as shown in the graph.

According to Celios Public Policy Director Media Wahyudi Askar, several problematic policies were implemented during President Prabowo's first 100 days in office.

"There were many quite problematic policies, such as the *food estate* program, the planned *tax amnesty*, and also the centralized free nutritious food program," said Media in an online presentation of the survey on Tuesday (21/1/2025).

However, he noted some positive points, such as relatively quick public communication, a reduction in Hajj costs, the cancellation of the 12% VAT rate, an increase in the provincial minimum wage (UMP) and teacher salaries, and several other populist policies.

"Hopefully, this simple study can serve as an initial benchmark that not only diagnoses performance but also provides strategic recommendations for the future," Celios stated in its report.

"Because the first 100 days are not the end, but rather the foundation for improving and enhancing the quality of Indonesian policies in the Prabowo-Gibran era," it continued.