Merah Putih Cooperative, between economic and political interests |

Change regime, change interests, change policies and change problems. That is what is often heard in society and it is difficult to deny its truth. This is also what happened with the policy on the Red and White Cooperative which is the Prabowo-Gibran Government program in Indonesia.

The Red and White Cooperative (read: Koperasi Merah Putih) is basically a policy that sides with the community, especially since cooperatives are one of the pillars of the nation's economy. Indonesia is also a country with the largest cooperatives in the world.

Before the Red and White Cooperative policy was rolled out, from 2014 - 2024, 82,000 cooperatives had been dissolved because they were inactive. This dissolution must be supported because the goal is to reform the cooperative sector to improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperatives as one of the pillars of the nation's economy.

The large number of cooperatives that are not running proves that there is something wrong with the management of cooperatives so far. In the midst of these conditions, the government actually wants to establish a new cooperative called Red and White with a series of stages that have the potential to cause problems.

As a legal umbrella, President Prabowo Subianto has issued Presidential Instruction Number 9 of 2025 concerning the Acceleration of the Establishment of Red and White Village/Sub-district Cooperatives. This Presidential Instruction aims to strengthen the people's economy through the establishment of 80,000 cooperatives in all villages and sub-districts in Indonesia.
Imagine, 80,000 new cooperatives were born with a series of requirements and stages that must be socialized. Isn't this policy very ineffective?

The number of new cooperatives that will be born is almost equivalent to the number of cooperatives that have been dissolved because they are inactive. How do you see this condition?

In the Presidential Instruction, there are indeed three steps that will be implemented, namely the establishment of new cooperatives, development of existing cooperatives, and finally revitalization. In its execution, of course, it is not easy to diagnose the "disease" of each cooperative, let alone tens of thousands.

Long ago, in discussions on social media, there was suspicion that the establishment of the Red and White Cooperative was a political reward to village heads for their support in the 2024 Election. There are village heads who admit that they are worried about the influx of funds because they are afraid of problems later on.

The reason is, when there is assistance for cooperatives from the government, the people consider it an opportunity to share fortune without accountability. That has been the experience so far. Assistance that was originally intended as a form of savings and loans, ended up being savings and lost!

In addition, village heads feel uncomfortable with law enforcement officers who have always wanted to be involved in handling village funds even though they are packaged in various programs. When they refuse, the officers look for their mistakes so that there is potential for legal problems.

Observers think that there are many holes in the establishment of the Red and White Cooperative. One of them is that the village head becomes a supervisor. In fact, the village head is a position elected by the people so that there is a conflict of interest.

The Red and White Cooperative, which was built with the spirit of a people's economy, could turn into a political vehicle.[]