JAKARTA, Indonesia — Prabowo Subianto, a former general accused of carrying out human rights abuses in the 1990s, has claimed victory in Indonesia’s presidential election, citing early vote returns that showed he had garnered nearly 60 percent of the vote in the world’s fourth-most populous nation.
Indonesia’s election commission will take several weeks to release official results, but independent polling companies have shared preliminary results showing that Prabowo, the sitting defense minister, garnered more than half the vote, surpassing pre-election forecasts. This means he’s likely to win the election outright and avoid a runoff contest.
The two other presidential candidates, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, trailed Prabowo by more than 30 percentage points each, according to preliminary results. As of 9 p.m. on election day, however, neither candidate had conceded. Campaign representatives from both teams alleged there were instances of cheating on polling day.
Prabowo is widely seen as the candidate backed by Widodo, who critics say used his personal political influence and the powers of the executive office to swing the election for Prabowo. At the same time, Prabowo has vowed to continue Widodo’s trademark policies, including his efforts to build a new capital city. Rights activists say they’re concerned civic freedoms will worsen under Prabowo. “We have to prepare for the shrinking of civic space,” Usman Hamid, executive director for Amnesty International in Indonesia, said as preliminary results were reported. “We have to be ready for the decline of Indonesia’s democracy.”
Here’s what else you need to know:
Why is Indonesia’s election important?
Indonesia has been one of Asia’s democratic bright spots since the fall of dictator Suharto in the late 1990s, managing peaceful transitions of power even as military juntas and authoritarian leaders have seized power in neighboring countries. This election, however, has alarmed watchdog groups, which say Widodo has been undercutting democratic norms to secure the victory of Prabowo.
Widodo’s critics allege that he pressured the country’s Constitutional Court to change the eligibility requirements for political candidates so that his son could become Prabowo’s running mate. They also allege that Widodo has been using his personal political influence as well as the power of the executive office to hamper the campaign activities of other candidates. Widodo and Prabowo have dismissed these accusations.
Goenawan Mohamad, one of Indonesia’s most prominent public intellectuals, said Widodo has “destroyed confidence” in the country’s political institutions. Rights activists, including the head of Amnesty International in Indonesia, said this could be the country’s unfairest election since the Suharto era.
Indonesia, the world’s largest majority-Muslim country with 280 million people, plays a vital role in confronting global challenges, from religious extremism to climate change. It is rich in critical minerals such as nickel, used in electric vehicle batteries.
Who is Prabowo Subianto?
Prabowo comes from a wealthy and prominent family in Indonesia and was a lieutenant general in the military under Suharto. International human rights organizations say Prabowo carried out rights abuses as a military leader, including ordering the kidnapping of democracy activists and directing the massacre of independence fighters in East Timor and elsewhere. Prabowo was dishonorably discharged from the military in 1998 but never faced criminal prosecution.
Prabowo has tried since the early 2000s to mount a political comeback through the nationalist Gerindra Party, at various points striking alliances with Islamic hard-liners and pro-military groups. He challenged Widodo in national elections twice but has grown closer to the president since being appointed defense minister defense in 2019.
Unlike in previous elections, Prabowo has not played up his military credentials, instead projecting a softer, more grandfatherly image that has resonated with Indonesia’s large youth population, say political scientists. Videos of Prabowo dancing at campaign events have gone viral on social media, prompting debate over the whitewashing of his allegedly brutal past.
What are key issues in the election?
The election is widely seen as a referendum on Widodo’s initiatives, from his efforts to establish an electric-vehicle manufacturing supply chain to his attempts to quell food insecurity by turning swaths of carbon-rich peatland into farms.
Prabowo has promised to continue Widodo’s policies “exactly.” Ganjar, who comes from Widodo’s party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has said he will largely carry on with the president’s policies but strive to improve them.
Anies, the former Jakarta governor who has been polling in second place, is the only candidate who has rejected some of Widodo’s key initiatives. He has said, for example, that he thinks Widodo’s project to build a new capital could “create new inequalities” and should be reevaluated.
If Prabowo wins, rights activists say they worry civil liberties could be eroded in Indonesia. Defending Prabowo, campaign adviser Budiman Sudjatmiko said that “liberty is not the only agenda for our country.”
