Indonesia’s Prabowo holds military-style retreat to ‘galvanise’ new ministers

Over 100 newly appointed ministers, deputy ministers and agency heads will take part in a multi-day retreat that will be held in the area of the country’s military academy, nestled among the mountains of Magelang, Central Java, a six-hour drive from the capital Jakarta, Cooperatives Minister Budi Arie Setiadi told reporters.

The cabinet flew in using a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft on Thursday afternoon, based on an Instagram post shared by Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra. They have been given full camouflage uniforms, sports jerseys and white shirts for their stay, and will camp in luxury tents on a hill around the site of the military academy.

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This approach speaks to the leadership style of Prabowo, who himself trained and graduated from the military academy in Magelang back in the 1970s. In his first few speeches as president, he has employed a strongman rhetoric to emphasise obedience and cohesiveness especially given the much-bigger cabinet he has created.