Jakarta, ThedailyID — Vice ministers and deputy agency heads in President Prabowo Subianto’s administration are not merely “backup players.” A study by independent research institution Evident Institute Indonesia found that several have contributed significantly to their institutions’ public image and performance.
Evident examined 63 figures in its study, titled Analysis of Popularity and Public Attention toward Vice Ministers and Deputy Heads of Agencies in the Red and White Cabinet. The research covered the period from September 3, 2025 to September 3, 2026.
Evident Institute Head of Research Antonius Ivan Sudibyo said media coverage and social media reactions shape public views of these officials and their institutions.
“In a democracy that upholds freedom of expression, the public directly assesses vice ministers and deputy agency heads organically,” Ivan said on Wednesday, October 7.
He said media outlets assess officials through editorial processes. Meanwhile, the public responds through social media posts and comments.
However, public attention does not always carry a positive sentiment. Negative actions by individual officials can also affect their institutions’ image.
Evident said this makes vice ministers and deputy agency heads important in supporting institutional credibility. At the same time, the large number of officials in the Prabowo-Gibran administration can make positive achievements harder to notice.
The study highlighted two figures with particularly important portfolios. They are Investment and Downstreaming Vice Minister and Deputy Head of BKPM Todotua Pasaribu, and Communications and Digital Affairs Vice Minister Angga Raka Prabowo.
“Both are relevant samples for assessing how media attention correlates with actual performance in two government affairs that directly affect the public,” Ivan said.
Evident described Todotua as a combination of public legitimacy and organic popularity. The study cited official government data showing that national investment realization reached Rp1.931 quadrillion in 2025.
The figure exceeded the government’s target. Meanwhile, downstreaming investment grew 43.3%, according to the study.
The trend continued into the first half of 2026. Todotua also led the implementation of a “positive fictitious” licensing scheme under Government Regulation No. 28 of 2025.
The scheme aims to speed up business licensing. Evident linked the effort to the government’s target of creating around 2.5 million new jobs.
Around 1.456 million new jobs had emerged in the first half of 2026, according to data cited by Evident. The study said official ministry releases could track these achievements.
Meanwhile, Angga Raka Prabowo has played a central role in government communication. He led the Government Communications Agency (Bakom) from its establishment on September 17, 2025 until April 27, 2026.
Angga continued to serve as vice minister at the Communications and Digital Affairs Ministry during that period. He also worked on personal data protection, online gambling, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.
Evident said Angga represents a form of leadership that focuses on public communication governance. However, the study noted that improving public sentiment toward the government remains a challenge.
The research also highlighted Culture Vice Minister Giring Ganesha. Giring serves alongside Culture Minister Fadli Zon and brings a background in the music industry.
Evident cited the 2025 Cultural Development Index, which reached 59.98. The figure exceeded the target of 58.39.
Giring has also monitored developments in Indonesia’s music industry. He cited Spotify evaluation data showing Indonesian music occupying 80% of top chart positions.
He brought the data to the Indonesia Music Conference in Makassar as a reference for policy discussions. Giring has also argued that culture should inspire creativity and innovation among young people.
Evident stressed that high media exposure does not automatically mean positive public perception. The study cited several officials who faced legal cases and later lost their positions.
They included former Manpower Ministry official Immanuel Ebenezer Gerungan and Immigration and Corrections Ministry official Silmy Karim. It also mentioned National Nutrition Agency officials Sony Sonjaya and Lodewyk Pusung.
The study linked the latter cases to alleged corruption involving the Free Nutritious Meals program. All four officials have left their positions, according to Evident.
Evident also compared its findings with a Reportica analysis of vice ministers’ social media popularity in August 2026. The Reportica study covered a much shorter period than Evident’s one-year research window.
Ossy Dermawan, Vice Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning and Deputy Head of BPN, recorded the highest volume with 6,108 mentions. However, all mentions came from the ministry’s own channels.
Evident described the pattern as a “Megaphone Illusion.” Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Vice Minister Taufik Hidayat recorded 1,677 organic mentions without support from personal channels.
Todotua followed with 1,048 organic mentions. Hajj and Umrah Vice Minister Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak recorded 1,810 mentions, but 57.2% carried negative sentiment.
Based on the research, Evident recommended three main steps. First, the government should strengthen internal oversight at new agencies that manage large-scale national priority programs.
Second, officials should update monitoring databases regularly. The updates should reflect cabinet reshuffles and developments in legal cases.
Third, the government should treat media volume only as a popularity indicator. It should not use media volume as a direct measure of performance.
“The number or volume of media coverage is not an indicator of an official’s performance, because this study shows that the two are separate axes and are not directly proportional,” Ivan said.
