Indonesia’s Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto claimed victory in Thursday’s presidential election, claiming he received more than 55% of the vote thanks to “rapid counting.”
Neither former governor is Prabowo’s opponent. Anis Beswadhan and Gunjal Pranowo were quick to admit defeat.
anise Said On Wednesday morning, his campaign said: “We will await the official results, which we will respect.” He suggested his supporters should closely monitor polling stations and promised that his own campaign was “not over” for now.
A quick count shows Mr. Anies is far behind with 22% of the vote, while Mr. Ganjar remains in third place with about 17%. As he pointed out multiple times during his victory announcement, Prabowo was the favorite in pre-election polls.
Collecting ballots from Indonesia’s thousands of inhabited islands is a daunting task, so final counting may not be completed for several weeks. The final vote is Possible If Mr. Prabowo’s vote percentage falls below 50%.
Prabowo, 72, has run for president twice in the past. When he lost the 2019 election and challenged the legitimacy of the results, his supporters rioted in Jakarta.The police accused Excessive force was used to quell the riot, during which at least 10 people were killed under dark circumstances.
Smoke rises from the torching of a police bus by demonstrators during a demonstration after the official announcement of government election results in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 22, 2019. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)
The former army chief and current defense minister appeared more confident in the integrity of the vote on Wednesday when he declared victory in front of thousands of cheering supporters.
“All the tallies, all the polling agencies showed numbers that Prabowo-Gibran won in the first round. This victory should be a victory for all Indonesians,” he said of his vice presidential candidate. He said this while referring to Gibran Rakabumin Raka, the current mayor of Surakarta and the eldest son of outgoing President Joko Widodo.
“We believe that Indonesia’s democracy is working well. The people decided, the people decided.”
Although Prabowo tried to put aside his past as a military strongman, hopeful He will rule as president “for all Indonesians.”
We are grateful, but we must not be arrogant, we must not be ecstatic, we must remain humble. This victory must be a victory for all Indonesians. Together with Gibran, I will take the lead in nurturing, protecting and defending all Indonesians, regardless of their tribal, ethnic, racial, religious or social background. The people of Indonesia have a responsibility to protect.
Gibran was seen as a risky choice as a running mate, as he is only 36 years old and has little experience in national politics. His father’s popularity did not completely influence him. Some voters in Surakarta, commonly referred to as “Solo” by residents, accused him of playing favorites and ignoring the plight of the city’s poor.
Others saw it as an extreme example of nepotism, using Joko Widodo’s family name and nostalgia for his time as mayor of Solo before running for president to take office long before he was ready. .
“He is a good kid, and all of Jokowi’s children are. They are polite and hardworking, but I thought it was too early for him to take on such a position, so I didn’t want him to become solo mayor.” I was shocked,” said a family friend. said Al Jazeera News before the presidential election.
Vice-presidential candidate Gibran Rakabumin Raka (Republican) announced his presidential candidacy during a gathering with supporters after voting in the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections held in Jakarta on February 14, 2024. Mr. Prabowo Subianto, Minister of Defense of Indonesia, speaks on stage. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images)
Murdoch University’s Ian Wilson told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that Prabowo has transformed from an ardent “populist” and “ultranationalist” to a more grandfatherly and reassuring figure ahead of the 2024 election. He said he was instrumental in bringing back a huge youth vote.
Mr Wilson said:
By recasting his image as a cute old man through a cartoon character, Prabowo targets a younger demographic and raises certain questions about his human rights record, which is mostly like ancient history to the younger generation. He is trying not to make any effort, but to counter the popularity of the incumbent he is riding on.
Prabowo was a strongman enforcer and son-in-law of Indonesia’s authoritarian second president. suharto. The Suharto regime, which lasted from 1967 to 1998, was marred by corruption and brutal repression of opposition, especially in his later years.
Prabowo was accused of numerous human rights violations during his service to Suharto, culminating in the abduction of more than 20 student democracy activists in 1998, which ended Prabowo’s military career. Although the crime is solved, he was never convicted and denies responsibility for the incident. disappearance.
Prabowo was barred from entering the United States in the 1990s due to human rights issues, but the Trump administration lifted up its limitationswhich enabled Prabowo to visit the Pentagon in October 2020 as Indonesia’s Minister of Defense.
A Trump administration official said at the time:
Minister Prabowo has been appointed as Minister of Defense by the president of Indonesia, the world’s third largest democracy, who has now been duly elected twice. He is a very important partnership partner for us and it is important that we engage with him and treat him as a partner.
CBS News surprised On Wednesday, Prabowo took to TikTok to shed his Darth Vader image and portray himself as a “cuddly, cat-loving grandpa and one who isn’t ashamed to cut out some pretty awkward daddy dance moves on stage at a rally.” We were able to rebrand ourselves.” ”
This makeover, coupled with Gibran’s youthful presence on the electoral ticket, was clearly enough to attract young voters who view the Suharto dictatorship as ancient history.There was also accusation Mr. Widodo intended to continue to exert influence behind the scenes, using various methods to rig elections to ensure that his chosen successor won.
For example, the Indonesian Constitutional Court waived the minimum age of 40 to become vice president, so only Widodo’s son Gibran could run for vice president. Shortly thereafter, the court rejected a petition to set the upper age limit for presidential office at 70, which would have disqualified Prabowo.
The President of the Constitutional Court is It was deleted After the Gibran verdict, it happened that it was Joko Widodo’s brother-in-law, Anwar Usman, who was forced out of office for failing to prove his “impartiality” and “honesty.” The court’s “Council of Honor” did not have the power to overturn the ruling that invalidated the minimum age for vice presidents.
There was also suspicion The investigation investigated election fraud over the past few weeks, including an alleged fraudulent video called “Dirty Vote” that received millions of views in a single day on social media. The video accused Widodo government officials of interfering with rival candidates’ campaigning and abusing state resources to promote Prabowo’s candidacy.
Mr. Widodo remains popular with Indonesian voters, thanks in part to a strong economy, and support for Mr. Prabowo would likely have been of great benefit had it not been for voter fraud. Many of the Prabowo vs. Gibran election campaign posters featured Widodo prominently, as if he were the third candidate in the election. Prabowo’s self-paced transformation has softened his image enough to soften his image for Indonesians who want strong leadership but not outright dictatorship.
Baswedan, the second-ranked presidential candidate and current governor of Jakarta, I lamented The change of government from Widodo to Prabowo and the establishment of a political dynasty as an ominous omen for Indonesian democracy.
“This means a decline in trust, it means a decline in the quality of democracy, it means a lot of legal rules are being bent,” he said on Wednesday.
