Prabowo vows to fight corruption as he is sworn in as Indonesia’s president

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Former general won the February presidential race with nearly 60 percent of the vote to succeed Joko Widodo.

Published On 20 Oct 2024

Prabowo Subianto has promised to combat corruption in Indonesia as he took oath as the president of the world’s fourth most populous country.

Wearing a traditional black hat and navy suit with a woven maroon and golden sarong, the 73-year-old former general and defence minister was sworn in in parliament on Sunday to succeed populist leader Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Prabowo, facing allegations of rights abuses as a military commander, swept the elections in February to lead the country of 280 million people.

In his inaugural speech, the country’s eighth president promised to make Indonesia more self-sufficient. He said while he wanted to live in a democracy, it must be “polite”.

“A difference of opinion must come without enmity … fighting without hating,” he said.

Prabowo, who previously sought the presidency three times, also assured that he would be president for all Indonesians and challenged the nation to help him deal with the country’s problems.

“We must always realise that a free nation is where the people are free,” Prabowo said, at times raising his voice.

“They must be freed of fear, poverty, hunger, ignorance, oppression, suffering,” he said.

He was joined in the swearing-in ceremony by his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 37, the eldest son of Widodo.

The police and the military put in place strict security measures, deploying at least 100,000 personnel across Jakarta, including snipers and antiriot units, for the swearing-in ceremony.

Prabowo won the February 14 presidential race with nearly 60 percent of the vote and has spent the past nine months building a formidable parliamentary coalition.

After his speech, Prabowo wore a baseball cap and waved from his car’s sunroof as he made his way to the presidential palace, passing thousands of flag-waving supporters thronging Jakarta’s streets in a festival-like atmosphere.

Flower boards outside the palace either congratulated Prabowo and Gibran or thanked Widodo for his decade of service.

Widodo’s supporters also attended the celebrations to bid farewell to Indonesia’s outgoing leader.

Anneta Yuniar, a bystander who had waved at Widodo’s motorcade as it slowly made its way past supporters before the ceremony, said she would miss him but that Prabowo was a strong leader.

“Prabowo will continue the development that Jokowi started. There’s continuity. It’s what I want,” she said.

But Tobias Basuki, managing director of Aristoteles Consults, a Jakarta-based risk assessment firm, told Al Jazeera that while there is always a promise of continuity given his alliance with Widodo, he expects a different type of presidency under Prabowo.

“I think there will be a significant difference in the focus of building human capital” compared to Widodo’s focus on infrastructure, he said.

In foreign policy, Basuki predicted that Prabowo would be “more flamboyant and grand”, compared with the “inward-looking” policy of his predecessor.

But he also said the new president will likely seek to balance Indonesia’s relationship with China and the United States.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Prabowo on Sunday, saying he would maintain “close strategic communication” with his new Indonesian counterpart, state broadcaster CCTV reported.