Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto thought a massive mandate would bulletproof his administration. He was wrong. Recent data from Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting reveals his approval rating has cratered to 51.1%. That is a stunning drop from the lofty heights of 81.2% he enjoyed back in November 2025.
When you ride into office on a wave of populist promises, reality eventually bites. Citizens aren't buying the political spin anymore. They are looking at their wallets, feeling the pinch, and asking hard questions about where the country is heading under his watch.
The Economic Reality Check
Macroeconomic data on paper often looks great to bureaucrats in Jakarta. On the ground, everyday Indonesians experience a completely different story. Nearly half of all survey respondents—around 49.4%—now label the national economy as bad or very bad.
Only a tiny fraction of the population feels like things are genuinely improving. Compare that to late 2025 when roughly 40% of people felt optimistic, and the sharp shift becomes impossible to ignore.
Stagnant wages paired with a weak currency and a sluggish stock market create a toxic environment for household budgets. Prabowo promised aggressive GDP growth targets, aiming for an ambitious 8% bump. Instead, everyday families find themselves battling rising living costs while government spending priorities shift and wobble.
When Flagship Programs Stumble
Every new presidency needs a signature policy. For Prabowo, it was the ambitious free nutritious meal initiative meant to tackle child malnutrition and poverty. It sounded great during the campaign trail. Execution proved to be an entirely different beast.
Logistical nightmares, red tape, and repeated budget hacks chipped away at the program's credibility. When a government rolls out a signature project only to scale it back twice while widening the national budget deficit, voters notice. They see broken promises where they expected relief.
Politics and Law Enforcement Take a Hit
Economic anxiety rarely stays isolated. When people struggle financially, their patience for political theater vanishes. Public satisfaction with how the administration handles political dynamics has plummeted. More than 42% of survey participants now rate the political climate poorly, a massive jump from earlier months.
Trust in law enforcement is heading south too. Citizens want stability and fairness. When high-profile institutional friction and worries over central bank independence dominate the headlines, public confidence evaporates.
Prabowo still holds a slim majority of approval, but the downward momentum is brutal. If his administration cannot stabilize everyday costs and fix execution flaws in core social programs, that 51% floor might completely give way before his term matures.
