Indonesia swears in Prabowo Subianto as country's eighth president

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated Sunday as the eighth president of the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, completing his journey as a former 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 in the streets by thousands of supporters after taking the oath of office on the Koran, the Muslim holy book, before foreign lawmakers and dignitaries. Banners and billboards welcoming the new president filled the streets of the capital, Jakarta, where tens of thousands of people gathered for festivities including speeches and musical performances along the city's main thoroughfare .

Subianto was a longtime rival of the wildly popular President Joko Widodo, who ran against him twice and refused to accept defeat twice, in 2014 and 2019.

But Widodo named Subianto defense chief after his re-election, paving the way for an alliance despite their rival political parties. During the campaign, Subianto presented himself as the popular heir to the outgoing president, pledging to continue his signature policies such as the construction of a new multibillion-dollar capital and limits on exports. of raw materials intended to stimulate national industry.

Backed by Widodo, Subianto won a landslide victory in February's direct presidential election on promises of political continuity.

Subianto was sworn in with his new vice president, former Surakarta mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 37. He chose Raka, who is Widodos' son, as his running mate, with Widodo favoring Subianto over his own former party's candidate. Former rivals have become tacit allies, even though Indonesian presidents generally do not support candidates.

But how to govern Southeast Asia's largest economy, where nearly 90% of Indonesia's 282 million people are Muslim, remains uncertain after a campaign in which he made few concrete promises beyond continuity with the popular former president.

Subianto, from one of the country's richest families, stands in stark contrast to Widodo, Indonesia's first president from outside the political and military elite, who came from a modest background and who, as president , often mingled with working-class crowds.

Subianto was a special forces commander until he was forced out by the military in 1998, accused of playing a role in the kidnappings and torture of militants and other abuses. He was never tried and went into voluntary exile in Jordan in 1998, although several of his subordinates were tried and convicted.

Jordan's King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein was scheduled to attend Sunday's ceremony, but canceled at the last minute due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, deciding instead to send Foreign Minister Nancy Namrouqa as his special correspondent. Subianto and Abdullah met in person in June for talks in Amman on humanitarian aid to those affected by the war in Gaza.

Subianto, who has never held elected office, will lead a huge and diverse archipelago whose economy has boomed amid strong global demand for its natural resources. But it will face global economic distress and regional tensions in Asia, where territorial disputes and rivalry between the United States and China are predominant.

Leaders and senior officials from more than 30 countries attended 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, US commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, was also part of the US delegation.

Army and police troops, as well as armored vehicles, fire trucks and ambulances, were deployed across the capital, and main roads were closed to ensure the swearing-in.

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

He pledged to continue Widodos' modernization efforts, which have boosted Indonesia's economic growth by building infrastructure and exploiting the country's abundant resources. A flagship 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 also promised to advance Widodos' most ambitious and controversial project: building a new capital in Borneo, about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) from congested Jakarta.

Before February's presidential election, he also promised to provide free school meals and milk to 78.5 million students in more than 400,000 schools across the country, in an effort to reduce malnutrition and falling behind. growth in 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 rocked by political, ethnic and religious unrest in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, it has consolidated its democratic transition as the third most largest democracy in the world and home to a rapidly expanding middle class.

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Associated Press journalists Edna Tarigan and Andi Jatmiko contributed to this report.