EXPLAINER | Who is the next president of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, a former general?

Unofficial counts indicate that a rich former general with connections to both Indonesia’s totalitarian past and well-liked departing president is poised to become the country’s next leader after winning a resounding majority in the first round of voting.

As the very popular current President Joko Widodo’s heir apparent, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto vowed to carry on the modernization drive that has sped up Indonesia’s economy and elevated it into the middle-income category.

“We ought not act haughtily. We have no right to feel superior. We ought not to be delighted. We must be modest even now. In an address from a sports stadium on election night, Subianto said, “This victory must be a victory for all Indonesian people,” which was televised nationally.

Subianto, a lieutenant general under the brutal Suharto dictatorship, will take office, but there are still unanswered questions regarding his personal involvement in disappearances, torture, and other human rights violations during the last years of that regime, as well as the costs of extraction-driven growth for the environment and traditional communities.

Widodo’s son was selected by Subianto, a former rival who lost two presidential contests to the popular leader, to run as his heir. This decision violated constitutional age restrictions and alarmed activists concerned about the emergence of a political dynasty in the 25-year-old democracy.

It is not yet official that Subianto won. Election night “quick counts” showed him receiving more than 55% of the vote in a three-way contest, but his two opponents have not yet conceded. The final results might take up to a month to be processed. These tallies, carried out by survey firms using millions of votes drawn from all around the nation, have shown to be accurate in previous elections.

Prabowo Subianto
Based on preliminary results, Indonesia’s Minister of Defense Subianto declares victory in the presidential election.
Subianto, the third of four children, was born in 1951 into one of the most influential families in Indonesia. Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, his father, served as a minister and a powerful politician under Presidents Sukarno and Suharto.

After working for Sukarno at initially, Subianto’s father turned against him and was banished. Subianto speaks English, Dutch, German, and French. He was born and raised abroad.

After a botched left-wing revolution in 1967, General Suharto took over and the family moved back to Indonesia. Suharto was accused of plundering billions of dollars from the state for his family, close friends, and himself, and he violently suppressed criticism. Suharto denied the accusations even after he stepped down from government in 1998.

Subianto joined the Indonesian Military Academy in 1970, leaving the service in 1974 after over three decades of training. Subianto enlisted in the Kopassus Special Force of the Indonesian National Army in 1976, serving as the group leader in what is now East Timor.

Human rights organizations assert that during Indonesia’s occupation of the now-independent Timor-Leste in the 1980s and 1990s, Subianto was complicit in a number of breaches of human rights in that country. These claims have been refuted by Subianto.

For years, Subianto and other Kopassus members were prohibited from entering the United States due to allegations of human rights violations against the Timor-Leste people. In order for him to go to the United States in his capacity as Indonesia’s defense minister, this prohibition was essentially abolished in 2020.

He wed Suharto’s daughter Siti Hediati Hariyadi in 1983.

Subianto was compelled to leave the military as a result of further claims of violations of human rights. In 1998, he received an honorable discharge when political opponents of his then-father-in-law, Suharto, were abducted and subjected to torture by Kopassus troops. 13 of the 22 activists abducted that year are still unaccounted for. Subianto was never put on trial, but a number of his men were put on trial and found guilty.

He never responded to these charges and, in 1998, he fled to Jordan on his own will.

Several previous advocates for democracy have joined his campaign. Politician Budiman Sudjatmiko, who was a fighter for democracy in 1998, said that progress requires reconciliation. In order to work on Subianto’s campaign team, Sudjatmiko departed from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

International attention to Subianto’s human rights record, according to Sudjatmiko, has been exaggerated. He said, “Brave, firm, and strategic leaders from developing countries are not liked by developed countries.”

Prabowo Subianto
How will Indonesia’s foreign policy change as a result of the presidential election?
After returning from Jordan in 2008, Subianto participated in the founding of the Gerinda Party. He lost to Widodo in his two presidential campaigns. In an effort to foster unity, he first declined to accept the results but eventually agreed to take Widodo’s offer of the defense minister post in 2019.

He has pledged to carry out Widodo’s economic development strategies, which made use of Indonesia’s copious supplies of nickel, coal, oil, and gas. These strategies guided the largest economy in Southeast Asia through ten years of fast expansion and modernization, significantly expanding the nation’s road and rail networks.

This includes the $30 billion Nusantara project, which aims to construct a new capital city. According to a research by a group of non-governmental organizations, Subianto’s family would benefit financially from the Nusantata project because of their property and mining holdings in East Kalimantan, where the new city would be located. A family member refuted the claims made in the paper.

Subianto and his family are also involved in the mining, coal and gas, palm oil, agricultural, and fisheries sectors of the Indonesian economy.

Subianto takes offense at criticism from other countries on human rights and other issues, but he is anticipated to maintain the nation’s practical approach to power politics. Under Widodo, Indonesia has pursued Chinese investment while reinforcing military relations with the United States.

In his post-election victory address, Subianto said, “Countries like us, countries as big as us, countries as rich as us, are always envied by other powers.” Thus, we have to band together. unified and peaceful.

The two erstwhile competitors ended up becoming tacit allies: Widodo subtly favored Subianto over the nominee of his own previous party, and Subianto selected Widodo’s son, 36-year-old Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his vice presidential running partner.

Raka is under the legally mandated minimum age of forty, but he is permitted to run because of a constitutional court exemption that was made possible by Widodo’s brother-in-law at the time, allowing both current and past regional governors to run at age thirty-five.

According to Yoes Kenawas, a research fellow at Jakarta’s Atma Jaya Catholic University, “this is the first time in Indonesian history that a sitting president has a relative who won in a presidential election.” “The establishment of the Jokowi political dynasty at the highest level of Indonesian government could be said.”

Subianto has also maintained tight relationships with radical Islamists, whom he used to discredit his rivals.

However, Subianto presented a more sympathetic image for the 2024 election, which has connected with Indonesia’s sizable young population. This image included advertisements of him roller-skating around the streets of Jakarta and films of him dancing on stage.

During his winning speech, Subianto said, “We will be the president and vice president and government for all Indonesian people.” Together with Gibran, I shall take the lead in defending and safeguarding all Indonesians, regardless of their race, religion, socioeconomic status, tribe, or ethnic group. Protecting the interests of all Indonesians will fall within our purview.