Indonesia says no to $1bn fee for Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ seat

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s president, under fire at home for signing up to US counterpart Donald Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace”, has insisted his country would not pay the $1 billion joining fee for permanent membership.

Jakarta had only committed peacekeeping troops for the initiative, Prabowo Subianto said in a statement published on the presidential YouTube channel on Sunday.

The “Board of Peace” came together after the Trump administration, teaming up with Qatar and Egypt, negotiated a ceasefire in October to halt two years of devastating war in Gaza.

Countries that want to be permanent members must pay $1 billion — sparking criticism the board could become a “pay-to-play” version of the UN Security Council.

Jakarta has only committed peacekeeping troops for initiative, says Indonesian president

Prabowo, a former general, has come under criticism from Indonesian Muslim groups for joining the board and pledging to send 8,000 peacekeeping troops to Gaza.

Prabowo attended the inaugural meeting of the “Board of Peace” in Washington last month.

But he later said he would withdraw from the board if it does not bring benefits to Palestinians or align with Indonesia’s national interests.

“We never said that we wanted to contribute $1 billion,” Prabowo said in statements broadcast on his YouTube channel Sunday.

He said he did not make any financial commitments “at all”.

Prabowo signed a tariff deal with the US last month, but insisted on Sunday that Indonesia could withdraw from any agreement if its conditions or execution threatens the national interest.

Talks with Washington about any peacekeeping mission to Gaza have been put “on hold”, according to state news agency Antara, citing Foreign Ministry spokesman Vahd Nabyl Achmad Mulachela.

Indonesia eyes $4.7 bn in savings

Meanwhile, Indonesia is eyeing up to 80 trillion rupiah ($4.7 billion) in savings to cushion its economy from the fallout of the war in the Middle East, according to the government.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy is also mulling fuel-saving measures including one day of remote working per week for government and certain public sector workers as US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory response in the Gulf have sent global oil prices soaring.

In an interview, President Prabowo Subianto was asked about a possible shift in budget priorities for the country that heavily subsidises fuel for its population of just over 284 million.

The former general said the government was “making every effort” to cut costs by curbing energy consumption and boosting production of renewables, mainly solar power.

The government has repeatedly insisted Prabowo’s signature free meals programme — budgeted at $19.7 billion for 2026 — will remain untouched.

It has also so far staunchly defended its fuel subsidy, which covers about 30 to 40 per cent of the cost for consumers and represents around 15pc of the budget.

These form part of Prabowo’s goal to raise the economic growth rate from 5.1pc last year to 8pc by 2029, fuelled by public spending.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2026



from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/kMt0s4W

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

D.G. Khan lawlessness

THE latest attack this week on a D.G. Khan cement factory convoy by the notorious Ladi gang , which clearly intended to kidnap employees and extort ransom from the factory management, underscores the deteriorating law and order conditions in the district. The raid by criminals armed with automatic weapons, which followed a string of over 30 attacks on police in the area in the first half of 2025 by the banned TTP, is a grim reminder of the ever-deepening security vacuum in the area amid a jurisdictional dispute between law-enforcement agencies. The raid is evidence of the growing nexus between militant outfits operating in the area and local criminal gangs, often backed by powerful local tribal elders and politicians. Spiralling lawlessness underlined by numerous gang assaults on industrial establishments — as well as the kidnapping and killing of factory staff — in recent years speaks volumes for the operational freedom these gangs and militant outfits enjoy in the area. More dis...
Read more

Will personally monitor Saudi investment projects, no laxity to be tolerated: PM Shehbaz

Image
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said he would personally monitor the completion of projects with Saudi investment, adding that negligence regarding these ventures was not acceptable. Chairing a meeting in Islamabad to review matters related to the visit of a recent high-powered Saudi delegation and Saudi investment in different sectors, the premier said the trip under the leadership of the Saudi foreign minister was the beginning of a “new era of commercial and strategic partnership” between the two countries, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. The meeting’s participants were briefed that the Saudi delegation discussed investment in mining and minerals, agriculture, energy, information technology and infrastructure development. They were also told that both sides had deliberated on making Pakistan a part of the global supply and value chain while the Saudi delegation had also praised Pakistan’s preparedness. The participants termed the arrival of ...
Read more

Can Donald Trump serve a third term as US president?

President Donald Trump on Monday declined to dismiss speculation that he would seek a third term and said he hadn’t considered whether he would go to court to contest the US constitution’s two-term limit for presidents. Here is a look at the legal barriers Trump faces. What does the US constitution say? The 22nd Amendment states in part: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” The amendment was ratified in 1951 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt broke with a self-imposed two-term limit set by presidents since George Washington, the nation’s first. Roosevelt, a Democrat who was president during the Great Depression and World War Two, served a third term and then died months into his fourth term in 1945. Wayne Unger, a law professor at Quinnipiac University, said the Constitution was clear that presidents are limited to two terms of four years each. He said that while that had not been tested in court, any challenge by Trump would likely be ...
Read more