Religious Affairs minister urges Muslims to back Prabowo priorities

Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar called on Muslims and the Indonesian Ulema Council to support the priority programs of President Prabowo Subianto's administration as he closed the 8th Congress of Indonesian Muslims and the 51st anniversary of MUI in Jakarta on Sunday night. He said policies such as industrial downstreaming, free schooling for the public, expanded LPDP scholarships for low-income people, the construction of thousands of homes and fishing villages, and the redistribution of neglected land would be widely felt by Muslims as the majority group. Nasaruddin also cited Perpres Number 111 Tahun 2025 on the general defense policy of the state, which he said targets nonmilitary threats such as atheism, online gambling, weakening nationalism, and LGBT. At the forum, he also asked MUI to help find ways to raise the share of Islamic banking, which remains below 10 percent despite Indonesia's roughly 240 million Muslims.