who is Prabowo Subianto, current Minister of Defense, favorite in the election?

Prabowo Subianto, who had already run in 2014 and 2019, is notably suspected of having ordered the kidnapping and torture of dozens of opponents at the end of the 1990s. He forms a ticket with the son of the outgoing president.

The 205 million voters in the world’s third largest democracy have cast their ballots. Indonesians are called to vote on Wednesday, February 14, to choose their mayors, their deputies and their president. Organizing such a vote represents an enormous logistical challenge. Indeed, 820,000 polling stations are spread across three time zones and thousands of islands. The ballot boxes are brought by helicopter, by boat, in ox carts and sometimes even on the backs of men.

It then takes a month to complete the counting. During the last elections in 2019, nearly 300 assessors simply died of exhaustion, from unfolding ballots day and night. However, since the end of the dictatorship in 1998, voting has been a celebration in Indonesia and participation rates are exceptional, 83% in 2019.

A former general of the dictatorship as favorite

The current Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto, who already ran in 2014 and 2019, is running as the favorite. He is well ahead in the presidential election on Wednesday, according to initial projections from a preliminary count of votes. He is a 72-year-old former general whose CV includes a few tasks. He is notably suspected of having ordered the kidnapping and torture of dozens of opponents at the end of the 1990s. At the time, he was the son-in-law of the terrible dictator Suharto.

In 2014, “Prabowo”, as everyone calls him, appeared in military uniform in front of the voters. This time, he used social networks to change his image, to make himself likable and it worked. A TikTok video, which shows him all perky doing dance steps at the end of a meeting, has gone viral among those under 40, who represent half of the electorate.

Prabowo Subianto worries democracy supporters

First of all, he worries because he forms a ticket with the son of the outgoing president, Joko Widodo, who cannot run again. A scent of nepotism hangs over political institutions, especially since the son in question benefited from a little help from the Constitutional Court. He’s 40 years old and he wasn’t supposed to be able to enter the race. Some also doubt his commitment to respecting human rights.

Finally, Prabowo Subianto promises to maintain a high growth rate, but Indonesia has become very dependent on nickel, the prices of which are falling sharply. His task will be not to scare away Chinese and Western investors and to maintain the trajectory of Indonesia, which aims to become one of the five main world economies.