Prabowo Subianto has been inaugurated 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 defence minister, who turned 73 on Thursday, was cheered through the streets on Sunday by thousands of waving supporters after taking his oath on the Koran, the Muslim holy book, in front of politicians and foreign dignitaries.
Banners and billboards to welcome the new president filled the streets of the capital, Jakarta, where tens of thousands gathered for festivities including speeches and musical performances along the city’s major thoroughfare.
Mr 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 Mr Widodo appointed Mr Subianto as defence chief after his re-election, paving the way for an alliance despite their rival political parties.
During the campaign, Mr Subianto ran as the popular outgoing president’s heir, vowing to continue signature policies like the construction of a multibillion-pound new capital city and limits on exporting raw materials intended to boost domestic industry.
Backed by Mr Widodo, he swept to a landslide victory in February’s direct presidential election on promises of policy continuity.
Mr Subianto was sworn in with his new vice president, 37-year-old Surakarta ex-mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
He chose Mr Raka, who is Mr Widodo’s son, as his running mate, with Mr Widodo favouring Mr Subianto over the candidate of his own former party. The former rivals became tacit allies, even though Indonesian presidents do not typically endorse candidates.
But how he will 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 apart from continuity with the popular former president.
Mr Subianto, who comes from one of the country’s wealthiest families, is a sharp contrast to Mr Widodo, the first Indonesian president to emerge from outside the political and military elite who came from a humble background and as president often mingled with working-class crowds.
Mr 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 had been expected to attend Sunday’s ceremony, but cancelled at the last minute because of escalating Middle East tensions, instead deciding to send Foreign Affairs Minister Nancy Namrouqa as his special envoy.
Mr Subianto and King Abdullah met in person in Amman in June for talks on humanitarian assistance to people affected by the war in Gaza.
Mr 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 will have to contend with global economic distress and regional tensions in Asia, where territorial conflicts and the United States-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 Asian countries.
US President Joe Biden sent Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations. Admiral Samuel Paparo, the US Commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, was also among the American delegation.
Army troops and police, along with armoured vehicles, fire engines and ambulances, were deployed across the capital, and major roads were closed to secure the swearing-in.
The election outcome capped a long comeback for Mr Subianto, who was banned for years from travelling to the United States and Australia.
He has vowed to continue Mr Widodo’s modernisation 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 Mr Widodo’s most ambitious and controversial project: the construction of a new capital on Borneo, about 1,240 miles (2,000km) away from congested Jakarta.
Before February’s presidential election, he also promised to provide free school lunches and milk to 78.5 million students at more than 400,000 schools across the country, aiming to reduce malnutrition and stunted growth among children.
Indonesia is a bastion of democracy in Southeast Asia, a diverse and economically bustling region of authoritarian governments, police states and nascent democracies.
After decades of dictatorship under President Suharto, the country 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.
