Djayadi Hanan and Yoes C Kenawas – President Prabowo Subianto has repeatedly expressed his concern that foreign interests are using proxies – colloquially known as 'antek asing' (foreign stooges) – to destabilise Indonesia, including by instigating major protests in late August 2025. Academics and activists take the president's rhetoric as an attempt to delegitimise critiques of his policies.
While such a concern is valid, it remains unclear whether the Indonesian public agrees with the president's accusations of foreign interference. To what extent, exactly, does Indonesian public opinion resonate with Prabowo's remarks regarding foreign interference?
To answer that question, the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) conducted a telephone survey of 1,216 Indonesian eligible voters who own a telephone or mobile phone. The survey was conducted from 3 to 5 April 2026 and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.9% at a 95% confidence level, based on simple random sampling.
The believers, the deniers, and what the numbers actually show
Indonesian public opinion is divided (see Figure 1): 47.4% of respondents disagree with the president's accusation of foreign interference, 39.5% agree, and 13.2% are unsure or prefer not to answer.
Figure 1. President Prabowo Subianto has stated on various occasions that there is foreign interference affecting Indonesia's politics, security, and economy. Do you strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, somewhat agree, or strongly agree with the president's statement? (n = 1,216)
Prabowo has never specifically identified the 'foreign stooges,' though he has mentioned non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and several media outlets, such as Tempo, as potential culprits. We therefore asked respondents who agreed with Prabowo's statement to specify which foreign entities they believed were responsible.
We found that among those who agree or strongly agree with the president's statement, 58.8% identified the foreign parties as state actors, while another 11.9% identified them as non-state actors (see Figure 2). The remaining 29.3% declined to respond or indicated that they do not know the foreign entities in question.
Figure 2. In your opinion, which foreign entities are interfering in Indonesia's politics, security, and economy? (Base: respondents who answered 'agree' and 'strongly agree' with the president's statement)
Furthermore, of those who answered that the foreign parties referred to by Prabowo are state actors, 38.06% named the US, 28.74% named China, 10.53% mentioned two or more countries, 16.19% named other countries, and the remaining 6.48% either could not name a country or declined to answer (see Figure 3).
Figure 3. Countries that intervene according to the respondents (Base: Respondents who answered 'state actors')
A cross-tabulation analysis reveals a strong correlation between Prabowo's approval rating and agreement with his statement: those who are satisfied with the president's performance are more likely to agree with his statement about foreign interference in Indonesia. Although this correlation does not mean causation, there are important conclusions that can be drawn from it.
A polarised society
Our study makes two contributions. First, our research provides empirical confirmation of activists' and experts' warnings that Prabowo's statements regarding foreign stooges are indeed polarising Indonesian society.
Although more people disagree with the president's statement, the fact that 39.5% of the public agrees with Prabowo's statement cannot be taken lightly, especially given that the president's supporters and aides continue to amplify allegations of foreign interference through Indonesian proxies on traditional and social media.
If this disinformation continues, there is a risk that these accusations of foreign interference will be perceived as true, making it even more difficult for academics and activists to do their advocacy work, especially under increasing pressure due to government repression.
Who is the foreign stooge?
Second, our findings reveal a deeper irony underlying the inconsistencies in Prabowo's narratives about foreign intervention in Indonesia. The majority of those who believe in foreign interference point to state actors, particularly the US and China, as the responsible parties. Yet, Prabowo's foreign policy focuses on a multi-alignment approach precisely to entice these two major superpowers. This means the foreign interference narrative might be damaging for Indonesia's interests.
For example, Prabowo surprisingly decided that Indonesia would join the Board of Peace (BoP) led by President Trump, even though the organisation's objectives are seen as conflicting with Indonesia's foreign policy. Indonesia also agreed to 19% tariffs imposed by President Trump. Both the BoP membership and the tariffs have been criticised by experts as detrimental to Indonesia's interest.
With regard to China, Prabowo has issued a controversial statement on the two countries' joint development in the South China Sea, which has also drawn criticism from the domestic audience. Prabowo then attended a military parade in Beijing in early September 2025 as part of the 80th anniversary commemorations of Japan's defeat in the Second World War. The president's trip took place just after large-scale violent protests that rocked several major Indonesian cities in late August 2025.
These policy choices invite a challenging but necessary question: if many foreign policy decisions may themselves promote foreign interests at the expense of Indonesia's own, the public deserves a more honest conversation about where the real risks to the country's sovereignty lie.
Source: https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/prabowos-foreign-stooge-myth-are-indonesians-buying-it