Indonesia’s feared ex-general Prabowo claims victory in presidential election
But the likely victory of Prabowo — an ex-general who was kicked out from the army and subjected to a two-decade ban from the U.S. over human rights violations — raises fears of the world’s third-largest democracy sliding backward into authoritarian rule.
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Continuity and its risks
Prabowo is expected to largely continue the policies of President Widodo, or “Jokowi,” as Indonesians call him. President Widodo is not up for reelection as he’s serving his final term.Through his two five-year terms, Indonesia’s economy — Southeast Asia’s largest — has grown at about 5% a year. His infrastructure building, cash and food assistance to the poor and health and education policies have been popular.
Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of nickel, used in making electric vehicle batteries, and Jokowi has barred the export of raw nickel, to help Indonesia move up the value chain from mining to manufacturing.
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Prabowo is Suharto’s son-in-law. He received training in the 1980s from the U.S. military at Fort Benning, Ga. (now Fort Moore) and Fort Bragg, N.C. (now Fort Liberty).
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Former Education Minister and Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, a presidential candidate who is trailing Subianto in most independent surveys, said he would shift what he called Widodo’s “transactional” foreign policy to one anchored on principles if he triumphs in the elections.
“When a country invades another country, we can say this is against our basic values. Even though we are friends, if rights were violated, we can reprimand them,” Baswedan told The Associated Press in an interview last month without saying which country he was alluding to.
Baswedan said human rights and environmental protection should underpin Indonesia’s foreign policy. “If we have no values, then there is a cost-benefit relationship, where we will only support countries that are profitable for us,” he said.
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Notes on critics of Prabowo:
Education: AFS Intercultural Programs exchange student, Fulbright Scholar (Fulbright programs are funded through Congressional appropriations), University of Maryland School of Public Policy, Northern Illinois University.
Board member of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue is financially supported by a number of donors, including Governments, private foundations and other humanitarian organisations.
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Other funders include: Rockefeller Foundation, USAID.
The Directors are pleased to acknowledge the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Oak Foundation, Open Society Georgia Foundation, the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Programme, Mauro Tunes and American Jewish World Service. The UK Department for International Development (Governance and Transparency Fund) continued to fund a four year human rights education project in Africa. The European Commission (EuropeAid) generously awarded a multi-year grant towards Amnesty International’s human rights education work in Europe.
Connie completed her doctoral studies at the University of Indonesia in addition to studying at the APCSS Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, Hawaii (US Department of Defense)- Fu Xi Kang War Academy, ROC – Chevening Executive Program for Democracy and Security at Birmingham University, UK.
She had the opportunity to become a Senior Research Fellow at The INSS Institute of National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Israel in order to complete his dissertation research.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 