August 22, 2025 | 06:58 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Prabowo Subianto asserted that poverty stems from incompetent and incapable leaders governing a nation. He made this statement during a guidance event for teachers and school principals at the Jakarta International Expo in Central Jakarta on Friday, August 22, 2025.
The event hosted 2,296 teachers and 155 school principals from across Indonesia. During his address, Prabowo began by referencing the physical wars endured during centuries of colonialism. He then urged the attendees to remember history, emphasizing that a nation can fall into poverty through colonization and internal division.
The Head of State also stated that poverty is a consequence of leaders being unable to counter external colonization. "Poverty occurs because leaders do not understand how to run the country to the best of their abilities," said Prabowo in his speech.
According to the President, such a lack of leadership could allow foreign nations to dominate the vast Indonesian archipelago.
Previously, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced that the national poverty rate in March 2025 was 8.47 percent, encompassing approximately 23.85 million people. According to BPS Deputy for Social Statistics Ateng Hartono, this figure represents a decrease of 0.20 million people, or 0.10 percentage points, compared to September 2024, when the rate was 8.57 percent, or 24.06 million people.
Ateng also highlighted the disparity in poverty rates between urban and rural areas. "In March 2025, the urban poverty rate was 6.73 percent, while rural poverty was 11.03 percent," he said at a press conference at the BPS Office in Jakarta on Friday, July 25, 2025.
However, the percentage of poor people in urban areas increased from 6.66 percent in September 2024. Conversely, the percentage of impoverished individuals in rural areas decreased from 11.34 percent in September 2024.
Anastasya Lavenia Yudi and Putri Safira Pitaloka contributed to the report.
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