The slogan “Make Indonesia great again” makes the pro-Trump candidate hit the jackpot
Prabowo Subianto, former general and defense minister, is the probable new president of Indonesia. His victory was greeted with some embarrassment by the United States, given the Trumpian slogans. All the details
Although the results of the presidential elections in Indonesia on Wednesday still await the imprimatur of the electoral commission which could take up to a month, everything seems to say that it was a landslide vote for the former general and defense minister Prabowo Subianto. That is, the former son-in-law and collaborator of the ferocious dictator Suharto and who was prohibited from entering the USA until 2020 due to multiple accusations of human rights violations. Here's who the probable new President is and Washington's embarrassed reaction.
The results of the vote in Indonesia
Although last Wednesday's presidential vote in Indonesia has yet to be certified by the competent commission, there is already a winner and it is the Defense Minister and former controversial general who secured more than 58% of the vote.
And if Prabowo Subianto's victory is confirmed, the third democracy on the planet which is also the most populous Islamic country in the world would find itself, as the New York Times writes, with a head of state who said that the nation does not need nor of democracy or elections and who for twenty years had barred access to the USA, with a provision removed only with his appointment as minister in 2020, due to the repeated violations of human rights attributed to him and which date back to when he was a close collaborator of the infamous dictator Suharto, whose very famous daughter nicknamed Titiek he married in 1983 (from whom he divorced fifteen years later).
Who is Subianto
As the Associated Press observes, the probable winner is the one who presented himself to voters as the heir of an immensely popular president like Joko Widodo – affectionately nicknamed Jokowi – and who promised to carry forward the modernizing agenda that so much growth has led to a country now joining the club of “middle-income” nations.
Yet, the Agency continues, the former general was Widodo's rival who twice attempted to snatch the presidency from him by participating in vain in two electoral races promptly won by the much more beloved Jokowi, who in 2019 welcomed him into the ranks of government in a unifying gesture.
Cool election campaign in Indonesia
This time, however, Subianto would have made it, provided that the results are certified, thanks above all to an effective communication strategy also based on youth films and commercials which portray him intent on dancing and which have enthused the large number of Indonesian youth.
The fact also reported by Al-Jazeera that he is the richest candidate, with assets estimated at over 127 million dollars, certainly helped him.
But what was decisive, according to the Arab newspaper, above all was that astute advertisement which portrayed him as a cuddly grandfather who bewitched those young people who cannot remember the dark times of the dictatorship but who can crown anyone since we are talking about a age group that includes over 50% of the electorate.
What awaits him at the gate
As the BBC reminds us, it could take up to a month for the electoral commission to confirm Wednesday's results, and it is a standard for a country where the transition from one administration to another is traditionally long and where the new president will not take office before of October, in a long but indispensable window dedicated to negotiations for the formation of the government.
When the time comes, Subianto will have to deal with what Bloomberg defines as crucial challenges on both the domestic and international fronts, the first of which, according to the agency, will be managing the legacy of his predecessor who committed to building close ties with both Use as much as with China.
Axis with Washington?
For Bloomberg, this geopolitical balancing act will be a dominant factor in the future of a country that boasts the largest economy in Southeast Asia and a vibrant democracy: two elements, it is underlined, that make it a natural partner for Washington.
And it is precisely on this axis that there could be further convergence in a few months if Donald Trump takes office in the White House, who according to Bloomberg exhibits "extraordinary similarities" with that former general who even photocopied and adapted the Trumpian slogan "Make Indonesia" great again”.
Lukewarm embarrassment
For the moment, however, the White House welcomes with poorly concealed embarrassment the still provisional outcome of the vote in Indonesia which would reward the very person who until four years ago could not even enter America.
“We will make our congratulations known at the appropriate time (since the results are still coming in,” National Security spokesman John Kirby said yesterday, but specified that “we will respect the vote and the voice of the Indonesian people.”
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/indonesia-risultati-elezioni-presidenziali/ on Fri, 16 Feb 2024 08:39:29 +0000.