Despite a chequered past, Mr Prabowo has the experience to govern Indonesia well, say analysts.
JAKARTA – Wrapping up the Indonesian presidential election in a single round is a feat for Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto that surpasses expectations, said experts, noting that the electoral gains he made reflect a well-thought-out campaign that spoke to people across the archipelago.
Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at policy and business consultancy Solaris Strategies Singapore, said garnering enough votes to avoid a run-off election in one of the world’s largest democracies shows that Mr Prabowo has worked hard to deserve the victory. “His choice of Gibran as his running mate has proven to be a political master stroke, as it is arguably pivotal in Prabowo winning the Indonesian presidential election.”
During the 75-day hustings, Mr Prabowo cultivated for himself a “gemoy” persona, complete with a signature dance. The word is a play on “gemas”, an Indonesian slang term that means cute or adorable, which is widely used by young people. “The middle class especially had certain preconceptions of Mr Prabowo’s image, what with his controversial history of human rights violations... This notion was challenged and totally reworked by the portrayal we saw,” said Mr Beltsazar, the principal researcher at CSIS’ Safer Internet Lab.
But regardless of Mr Prabowo’s path to the presidency, there is a consensus that he has the experience to run Indonesia well, having been in politics since 2004 and serving as the defence minister since 2019. In November 2023, Singapore conferred on Mr Prabowo its top military award, a sign that he has contributed significantly to close and longstanding bilateral defence relations between the two neighbours.
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