Indonesia swears in ex-general Prabowo Subianto as president

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated Sunday as the eighth president of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, completing his journey from an ex-general accused of rights abuses during the dark days of Indonesia’s military dictatorship to the presidential palace.

The former defense minister, who turned 73 on Thursday, was cheered through the streets by thousands of waving supporters after taking his oath on the Quran in front of lawmakers and foreign dignitaries. Banners and billboards filled the streets of the capital, Jakarta, where tens of thousands gathered for festivities.

Wearing a blue Betawi traditional cloth and a dark baseball cap, Subianto stood up in the sunroof of a white van and waved, occasionally shaking people's hands, as his motorcade struggled to pass through the thousands of supporters calling his name and chanting “Good luck Prabowo-Gibran,” filling the road leading from the parliament building to the presidential palace.

Subianto promises continuity

“I see a firm and patriotic figure in him,” said Atalaric Eka Prayoga, 25. “That’s a figure we need to lead Indonesia.”

Another resident, Silky Putri, said he hopes Subianto "can build Indonesia to be more advanced and improve the current gloomy economic situation.”

Subianto was a longtime rival of the immensely popular President Joko Widodo, who ran against him for the presidency twice and refused to accept his defeat on both occasions, in 2014 and 2019.

But Widodo appointed Subianto as defense chief after his reelection, paving the way for an alliance despite their rival political parties. During the campaign, Subianto ran as the popular outgoing president’s heir, vowing to continue signature policies like the construction of a multibillion-dollar new capital city and limits on exporting raw materials intended to boost domestic industry.

Backed by Widodo, Subianto swept to a landslide victory in February’s direct presidential election on promises of policy continuity.

Subianto was sworn in with his new vice president, 37-year-old Surakarta ex-Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He chose Raka, who is Widodo’s son, as his running mate, with Widodo favoring Subianto over the candidate of his own former party. The former rivals became tacit allies, even though Indonesian presidents don’t typically endorse candidates.

But how he’ll govern the biggest economy in Southeast Asia — where nearly 90% of Indonesia’s 282 million people are Muslims — remains uncertain after a campaign in which he made few concrete promises besides continuity with the popular former president.

After decades of dictatorship under President Suharto, Indonesia was convulsed by political, ethnic and religious unrest in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, it has consolidated its democratic transition as the world’s third-largest democracy, and is home to a rapidly expanding middle class.

Subianto, who comes from one of the country’s wealthiest families, is a sharp contrast to Widodo, the first Indonesian president to emerge from outside the political and military elite.

A former general with a checkered past

Subianto was a special forces commander until he was expelled by the army in 1998 over accusations that he played a role in the kidnappings and torture of activists and other abuses. He never faced trial and went into self-imposed exile in Jordan in 1998, although several of his underlings were tried and convicted.

Jordanian King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein was expected to attend Sunday’s ceremony, but canceled at the last minute because of escalating Middle East tensions, instead deciding to send Foreign Affairs Minister Nancy Namrouqa as his special envoy. Subianto and Abdullah met in person in June for talks in Amman on humanitarian assistance to people affected by the war in Gaza.

Subianto, who has never held elective office, will lead a massive, diverse archipelago nation whose economy has boomed amid strong global demand for its natural resources. But he’ll have to contend with global economic distress and regional tensions in Asia, where territorial conflicts and the U.S.-China rivalry loom large.

Leaders and senior officials from more than 30 countries flew in to attend the ceremony, including Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and leaders of Southeast Asia countries. U.S. President Joe Biden sent Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Adm. Samuel Paparo, the U.S. commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, was also among the American delegation.

Analysts and the media consider Subianto a leader with greater international awareness than Widodo. He's already held dozens of meetings with scores of foreign officials, said Adhi Priamarizki, a fellow researcher at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

He said that defense development was at the top of his list of priorities. Subianto has advocated an expansion of the military through the purchases of submarines, frigates and fighter jets and wants to initiate more defense cooperation with various countries, Priamarizki said.

The election outcome capped a long comeback for Subianto, who was banned for years from traveling to the United States and Australia.

Promises to fight corruption

He has vowed to continue Widodo’s modernization efforts, which have boosted Indonesia’s economic growth by building infrastructure and leveraging the country’s abundant resources. A signature policy required nickel, a major Indonesian export and a key component of electric car batteries, to be processed in local factories rather than exported raw.

He has also promised to push through Widodo’s most ambitious and controversial project: the construction of a new capital on Borneo, about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) away from congested Jakarta.

A rousing speaker, Subianto railed against widespread corruption in his inauguration speech, saying many people are unbale to get jobs, children are malnourished and their schools are not well maintained.

“Too many of our brothers and sisters are below the poverty line, too many of our children go to school without breakfast and do not have clothes for school," Subianto said. He vowed to tackle corruption and achieve food and energy self-sufficiency in the next five years.

Before February’s presidential election, he also promised to provide free school lunches and milk to 83 million students at more than 400,000 schools across the country. It's projected to cost 71 trillion rupiah ($4.5 billion) in its first year and aims to reduce malnutrition and stunted growth among children.

“We must dare to see all of this and we must dare to solve all of these problems,” Subianto said Sunday.

He also pledged to continue a non-aligned foreign policy and to be a good neighbor.

“We will stand against all colonialism and we will defend the interests of oppressed people worldwide,” Subianto said.

Subianto had at least seven interactions with U.S. officials, the most among foreign officials he had met in the post-election period, and six with Chinese officials, Priamarizki said.

“It can be read as an initial signal that Prabowo intends to adopt a more balanced approach towards the two countries,” he said.