Indonesia swears in Prabowo Subianto because the nation’s eighth president

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated Sunday because the eighth president of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, finishing his journey from an ex-general accused of rights abuses in the course of the darkish days of Indonesia’s navy dictatorship to the presidential palace.

The previous protection minister, who turned 73 on Thursday, was cheered via the streets by 1000’s of waving supporters after taking his oath on the Quran, the Muslim holy ebook, in entrance of lawmakers and international dignitaries. Banners and billboards to welcome the brand new president stuffed the streets of the capital, Jakarta, the place tens of 1000’s gathered for festivities together with speeches and musical performances alongside the town’s main throughfare.

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Subianto was a longtime rival of the immensely standard President Joko Widodo, who ran towards him for the presidency twice and refused to simply accept his defeat on each events, in 2014 and 2019.

However Widodo appointed Subianto as protection chief after his reelection, paving the best way for an alliance regardless of their rival political events. In the course of the marketing campaign, Subianto ran as the favored outgoing president’s inheritor, vowing to proceed signature insurance policies like the development of a multibillion-dollar new capital metropolis and limits on exporting uncooked supplies supposed to spice up home trade.

Backed by Widodo, Subianto swept to a landslide victory in February’s direct presidential election on guarantees of coverage continuity.

Subianto was sworn in along with his new vp, 37-year-old Surakarta ex-Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He selected Raka, who’s Widodo’s son, as his working mate, with Widodo favoring Subianto over the candidate of his personal former celebration. The previous rivals turned tacit allies, although Indonesian presidents don’t usually endorse candidates.

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However how he’ll govern the largest financial system in Southeast Asia _ the place practically 90% of Indonesia’s 282 million persons are Muslims _ stays unsure after a marketing campaign during which he made few concrete guarantees in addition to continuity with the favored former president.

Subianto, who comes from one of many nation’s wealthiest households, is a pointy distinction to Widodo, the primary Indonesian president to emerge from exterior the political and navy elite who got here from a humble background and as president typically mingled with working-class crowds.

Subianto was a particular forces commander till he was expelled by the military in 1998 over accusations that he performed a task within the kidnappings and torture of activists and different abuses. He by no means confronted trial and went into self-imposed exile in Jordan in 1998, though a number of of his underlings have been tried and convicted.

Jordanian King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein was anticipated to attend Sunday’s ceremony, however canceled on the final minute due to escalating Center East tensions, as an alternative deciding to ship Overseas Affairs Minister Nancy Namrouqa as his particular envoy. Subianto and Abdullah met in particular person in June for talks in Amman on humanitarian help to individuals affected by the conflict in Gaza.

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Subianto, who has by no means held elective workplace, will lead an enormous, numerous archipelago nation whose financial system has boomed amid robust international demand for its pure sources. However he’ll should deal with international financial misery and regional tensions in Asia, the place territorial conflicts and the United States-China rivalry loom massive.

Leaders and senior officers from greater than 30 international locations flew in to attend the ceremony, together with Chinese language Vice President Han Zheng and leaders of Southeast Asia international locations. U.S. President Joe Biden despatched Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Adm. Samuel Paparo, the U.S. Commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, was additionally among the many American delegation.

Military troops and police, together with armored automobiles, hearth vans and ambulances, have been deployed throughout the capital, and main roads have been closed to safe the swearing-in.

The election consequence capped an extended comeback for Subianto, who was banned for years from touring to the US and Australia.

He has vowed to proceed Widodo’s modernization efforts, which have boosted Indonesia’s financial development by constructing infrastructure and leveraging the nation’s ample sources. A signature coverage required nickel, a serious Indonesian export and a key part of electrical automotive batteries, to be processed in native factories relatively than exported uncooked.

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He has additionally promised to push via Widodo’s most bold and controversial undertaking: the development of a brand new capital on Borneo, about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) away from congested Jakarta.

Earlier than February’s presidential election, he additionally promised to offer free faculty lunches and milk to 78.5 million college students at greater than 400,000 colleges throughout the nation, aiming to cut back malnutrition and stunted development amongst youngsters.

Indonesia is a bastion of democracy in Southeast Asia, a various and economically bustling area of authoritarian governments, police states and nascent democracies. After many years of dictatorship below President Suharto, the nation was convulsed by political, ethnic and spiritual unrest within the late Nineties and early 2000s. Since then, it has consolidated its democratic transition because the world’s third-largest democracy, and is dwelling to a quickly increasing center class.

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

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