Indonesian Ummat Party Leader Accuses Presidential Cabinet Secretary of Being Gay, Government Calls It Slander

Indonesia has been drawn into a political dispute after Amien Rais, chair of the advisory council of the conservative Muslim Ummat Party, claimed that Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya is gay and has a “dangerous grip” on President Prabowo Subianto. As The Star reported via The Jakarta Post , the government described Rais’s video as slander, a hoax, and hate speech.

The video was uploaded to YouTube on April 30, 2026. In it, Rais alleged that Wijaya had become personally too close to the president and urged Prabowo to replace him with a “normal figure” focused on serving the country. Rais did not present publicly verifiable evidence for the claim. After the video spread on social media, it became unavailable in Indonesia with a notice citing a legal complaint from the government.

Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said on May 1 that the video had no factual basis and was aimed at damaging the president’s reputation. Muhammad Qodari, head of the Government Communications Agency, said the accusation was based on an entertainment account featuring a song called “Aku Bukan Teddy,” or “I’m Not Teddy,” which Rais had treated as politically meaningful material.

Teddy Indra Wijaya holds a sensitive post: the cabinet secretary works close to the president and helps coordinate government work. The Cabinet Secretariat of Indonesia said Prabowo inaugurated Wijaya as cabinet secretary on October 21, 2024, under a presidential decree. Wijaya had previously been a military officer and an aide to Prabowo.

The Ummat Party said it was ready to defend Rais if the matter went to court. The Star reported that the party backed Prabowo’s rival Anies Baswedan in the 2024 presidential election before later voicing support for Prabowo after his victory. Neither Prabowo nor Wijaya has publicly addressed the discussion of sexual orientation itself.

Amnesty International Indonesia condemned Rais’s statement as discriminatory. Its executive director, Usman Hamid, told The Star that there is no scientific link between lesbian or gay sexual orientation and an inability to lead, nor evidence that it damages public morality. He also noted that the government’s response focused mainly on defending the president’s reputation, not on discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The wider context matters. In most of Indonesia, consensual same-sex relations between adults are not criminalized under national law. But Amnesty International has noted that Aceh province is an exception because it applies an Islamic criminal code. Human Rights Watch has also reported that authorities have used the 2008 pornography law in raids and prosecutions targeting LGBT people, even though the central government has not criminalized same-sex conduct itself.

The dispute around Rais and Wijaya therefore goes beyond a personal accusation. It shows how alleged sexual orientation can be used in Indonesian politics as an argument about a public official’s moral fitness, while the state’s response can defend power from defamation and still avoid the broader issue of stigma against LGBT people. According to EqualDex , Indonesia scores 12 out of 100 on its LGBT Equality Index.