Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto has floated a plan to set up an “ad hoc court” for problematic state-run enterprise bosses, possibly including those who have retired.

Prabowo has been pursuing a massive overhaul of Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises or SOEs, which became a major theme in his 2026 state address. The overhaul is not limited to capping the thousands of SOEs -- including the sub-subsidiaries -- to 300 businesses by the end of the year. Prabowo is also after the bad SOE bosses.

“It turns out these businesses sometimes work as they please. They are not fulfilling their responsibility to the nation and state, even ignoring the government. I don’t understand why this could happen,” Prabowo said in a high-stakes speech before the parliament in Jakarta on Friday.

“Maybe we should form a special ad hoc court to investigate the board of directors, including those helming the business over the past 30 years.”

Prabowo did not name a specific SOE that should be subject to the planned ad hoc court. The ex-army general, however, proposed giving amnesties to the bosses who have “repented” and “admitted their fault”. He also handed it over to the parliament to decide whether the amnesty mechanism should be in place.

Indonesia’s ad hoc judicial system is currently limited to anti-corruption and human rights courts. An ad hoc court means that it is only created to address one specific case; in other words, it is usually temporary in nature. 

Law Minister Supratman Andi Agtas later clarified that the people should see Prabowo’s ad hoc court statement as a “warning” against corruption. There have been no formal discussions on establishing this system so far.

“But if we receive an order to [set up an ad hoc court], we are certainly ready,” Agtas said, as reported by the state news agency Antara.

All SOEs are now under the sovereign wealth fund Danantara’s wings. Speaking on the massive streamlining ambitions, Prabowo complained about having "too many unproductive SOEs".

“They are consistently in the red, but they cook the books and fake reporting profits. We have run into trouble, especially since foreign companies have partnered with our SOEs,” Prabowo remarked.

Some SOEs have turned things around with up to triple-digit growth following the restructuring. Building material firm Semen Indonesia’s net profit soared 408.9% year-on-year (yoy) in the first half of 2026. Energy firm Pertamina also saw an 86% growth over the same period.    

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