Prabowo Executes Eighth Cabinet Reshuffle, Tapping Army Stalwarts, Academic Chiefs, and Legal Confidants

JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — President Prabowo Subianto carried out his eighth cabinet reshuffle on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, swearing in nine high-ranking officials to reorganize pivotal defense, agricultural, and disaster mitigation portfolios.

The ceremony at the State Palace brought an extensive rotation across the armed forces and line ministries, balancing battlefield veterans with technocrats and close legal allies just days after the administration's broader midterm ministerial realignments.

Prabowo’s eighth executive shake-up reflects an uncompromising focus on institutional discipline, defense readiness, and crisis containment. By rotating combat-tested generals into top defense and disaster command posts, installing supply-chain academic leadership at the agriculture ministry, and resolving lingering vacancies in penal oversight, the administration is reinforcing its state machinery to handle environmental shocks, legal reform, and external geopolitical tensions.

Military Rotation and Defense Command

The high-level realignment was anchored by shifts within the armed forces leadership. General Maruli Simanjuntak, who previously served as Army Chief of Staff (Kasad), was sworn in as Deputy Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces while concurrently heading the National Border and Remote Areas Management Agency. General Tandyo Budi Revita was sworn in to succeed Maruli as the new Army Chief of Staff under Presidential Decrees No. 105 and 106 TNI of 2026.

Prabowo also reconstituted the executive leadership of the Ministry of Defense under Presidential Decree No. 42M of 2026, creating a specialized dual-deputy structure under Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.

Air Marshal Yusuf Jauhari, previously head of the ministry’s Defense Logistics Agency, was inaugurated as Deputy Minister of Defense for Defense Industry Logistics and Technology. He will serve alongside General Richard Taruli Horja Tampubolon, who was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense for Strategy, Doctrine, and Force Development.

Richard, a 1992 Military Academy graduate and former Chief of General Staff (Kasum) of the TNI, brings extensive operational pedigree to the defense ministry, including leading frontline counter-insurgency campaigns that captured Free Papua Movement (OPM) operating bases during his command of Operation Nemangkawi I.

"I am a soldier, ready to be stationed anywhere," Richard stated upon arriving at the palace ahead of the swearing-in ceremony.

Technocrats and Loyalists Enter the Executive

On the civilian front, the administration tapped academic rigor to oversee food supply chains by appointing IPB University Rector Alim Setiawan Slamet as Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

Alim, an agro-industrial technology specialist and Ehime University doctorate who rose to the IPB rectorship in late 2025, has focused his research on cold chains, fruit traceability, and smallholder retail inclusion—competencies that align with state drives toward food sovereignty.

To address vacancies in law enforcement, Prabowo named senior advocate and Gerindra Party Honor Council Secretary Maulana Bungaran as Deputy Minister of Immigration and Corrections. Maulana, who served on the lead legal defense team for the Prabowo-Gibran presidential ticket during the 2024 Constitutional Court election disputes, fills the ministerial opening created after former deputy minister Silmy Karim vacated the post amid legal proceedings.

Disaster and Peatland Management Shake-Up

The executive overhaul extended directly to disaster mitigation. Under Presidential Decree No. 113P of 2026, Prabowo replaced Lieutenant General Suharyanto as head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), installing Lieutenant General Kristomei Sianturi to lead the disaster response body.

The changing of the guard at the apex of BNPB comes during heightened national scrutiny following an anti-graft probe into disaster emergency procurement funds, even as regional teams continue to battle forest and peatland blazes across Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Rounding out the appointments under Presidential Decree No. 43M of 2026, Satyawan Pudyatmoko and Major General Sriyanto were sworn in as Head and Deputy Head of the National Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BPGMN), tasked with leading ecological rehabilitation across sensitive wetlands nationwide.