January 15, 2026 | 10:19 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto gathered academics at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, January 15, 2026. Prabowo will deliver a briefing to them at the event, which will take place this morning.
Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Stella Christie stated that thousands of academics have been invited to the Palace. "The President has gathered around 1,200 people today, so there are a lot of attendees," Stella said at the Presidential Palace on Thursday morning.
Stella said the invitees include rectors, deans, and professors from various universities, both state and private.
According to Stella, this is not the first time Prabowo has gathered academics at the Palace. "The first time happened last year, and to my knowledge, throughout history, no president has ever gathered academics from universities," she said.
Like last year, Stella said, Prabowo will also address them at today's meeting. Stella stated that the President would pay special attention to the social sciences and humanities, after focusing on science and technology at the previous meeting.
Stella claimed this focus reflected Prabowo's attention to the social sciences and humanities. "So, to those academics who might be a little worried that the social sciences and humanities aren't being given attention, that's not true," she said.
Academics began arriving at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta this morning. However, not all invited guests accepted President Prabowo's invitation to meet.
A number declined. For example, several professors at the Islamic University of Indonesia in Yogyakarta declined President Prabowo Subianto's invitation to a dialogue about the role of universities in supporting Asta Cita (the Asta Cita).
Masduki, a professor of Communication Studies at UII, was one of those who declined to attend. He highlighted the invitation's emphasis on strengthening the role of universities in supporting the achievement of Asta Cita, the mission of the Prabowo-Gibran administration. "The forum is merely ceremonial, a formality, and uses a top-down or presidentially dominant approach," Masduki said when contacted on Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
He imagined participants would only listen to Prabowo's speech, which was steeped in image-building. As a result, professors would have no opportunity to openly criticize the government. Masduki is pessimistic about being able to provide input to Prabowo through the forum.
Shinta Maharani contributed to the writing of this article.
Read: Prabowo's Palace Dialogue Snubbed by Professors as 'Merely Ceremonial'
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