Indonesian energy minister targeted with false claims of firing
- Published on November 11, 2025 at 09:42
- 2 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has not dismissed the country's energy minister as the Southeast Asian nation deals with fuel shortages at private gas stations, contrary to social media posts that shared a video claiming it showed Bahlil Lahadalia giving a tearful farewell speech to his ministry colleagues. The video was actually taken when Bahlil handed over his post as the Minister of Investment in August 2024, when he was appointed to his current role.
"Bahlil has officially been dismissed from his position," reads the Indonesian-language text overlaid on a TikTok video shared on November 11, 2025.
The video shows Bahlil Lahadalia speaking from a podium and thanking colleagues for their support as he wipes away tears.
It surfaced against the background of fuel shortages at private gas stations in Indonesia, blamed in part on government import restrictions.
Bahlil, as Indonesia's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, has drawn the brunt of public criticism and was targeted by social media users who created memes mocking him (archived here and here).
The same video was also shared in similar posts on TikTok .
"Congratulations to Mr Prabowo for firing Bahlil, Bahlil cried right after being dismissed," read a comment on one of the posts, referring to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
Another said: "Please carry it out immediately, Mr Prabowo."
But there have been no official reports of Bahlil being fired. And, as of November 11, he remains listed as the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources on the ministry's website (archived link).
A keyword search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to footage posted on the official YouTube channel of Indonesia's Ministry of Investment and Downstream Industry (BKPM) on August 19, 2024 (archived here).
The portion used in the false posts corresponds to the 15:44 mark of the YouTube video, which is titled, "Handover Ceremony of the Minister of Investment/Head of BKPM".
At the time, Bahlil was the head of BKPM.
Then-president Joko Widodo had re-assigned him to the position of Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (archived link).
In the video, Bahlil thanks his colleagues for their support and says he is confident his successor -- Rosan Roeslani -- will do better than he did.
"Welcome to Mr Rosan, the new Minister of Investment and Head of BKPM. I only ask one thing: please support him," Bahlil says.
AFP has debunked other false claims targeting Indonesian politicians.
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