Photos: In pomp-filled day, Prabowo Subianto takes reins of power in Indonesia

Scenes from the inauguration of the country’s new president, a former special forces commander linked to the late dictator Suharto.
BenarNews staff
2024.10.20
Jakarta and Washington
Photos: In pomp-filled day, Prabowo Subianto takes reins of power in Indonesia Prabowo Subianto is sworn in as Indonesia’s new president during an inauguration ceremony at the House of Representatives building in Jakarta, Oct. 20, 2024.
Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters

The Prabowo Subianto era formally began in Indonesia on Sunday after the ex-army general with a tainted human rights record took the oath of office as the new president of Southeast Asia’s largest country.

Prabowo, 73, was sworn in as the eighth Indonesian leader, taking over from Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who completed his second and constitutionally mandated final term as president.

Prabowo had lost the two previous presidential elections to Jokowi but he served as defense minister in the second Joko administration and romped into power via the 2024 general election, held eight months ago.

His path to power was buoyed through a political alliance with Jokowi, which saw the outgoing president’s oldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, be elected as Prabowo’s running mate through a controversial court decision.    

Prabowo, the former son-in-law of longtime Indonesian dictator Suharto, has never shaken off allegations of being linked to human rights abuses during his military career in the army special forces (Kopassus). Those included allegations that he oversaw the disappearance of pro-democracy student activists in the days before President Suharto’s downfall in May 1998. 

The new president begins his first five-year term with the prospect that he could be ruling without a parliamentary opposition. Last week, PDI-P, the party which won the most seats in February polls, announced that it would support his coalition, although it had promised to stay in the opposition.

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Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia’s new president (right), gestures as his predecessor Joko Widodo applauds during an inauguration ceremony at the Parliament building in Jakarta, Oct. 20, 2024. [Bay Ismoyo/AFP]
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Newly inducted Indonesian leader Prabowo Subianto waves from his car to supporters lining the streets of central Jakarta as his motorcade passes by after he was inaugurated as his country’s eighth president, Oct. 20, 2024. [Eko Siswono Toyudho/BenarNews]
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People stand in front of a poster of the outgoing and incoming Indonesian presidential and vice-presidential teams as they wait for the motorcade of newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto to pass by in central Jakarta, Oct. 20, 2024. [Eko Siswono Toyudho/BenarNews]
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Prabowo Subianto (left), Indonesia’s new president, and former President Joko Widodo attend a handover ceremony at the Presidential palace in Jakarta, Oct. 20, 2024. [Willy Kurniawan/Reuters]
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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) confers with Hassanal Bolkiah, the sultan of Brunei, as they and other leaders of neighboring Southeast Asian countries attend the swearing-in ceremony of new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the parliament building in Jakarta, Oct. 20, 2024. [Tatan Syuflana/AP]
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Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto reacts with Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (left) after they were inaugurated at the House of Representatives building in Jakarta, Oct. 20, 2024. [Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters]
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President Prabowo Subianto can be seen waving to supporters from his car as his motorcade passes through after his inauguration as Indonesia’s new leader, Oct. 20, 2024. [Eko Siswono Toyudho/BenarNews]
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From left to right: Indonesian House Speaker Ahmad Muzani, former Indonesian President Joko Widodo, President Prabowo Subianto, Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka and former Vice President Ma’ruf Amin stand during a photo session after the presidential inauguration at the House of Representatives building in Jakarta, Oct. 20, 2024. [Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters]
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