Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto congratulated by China’s Xi, US’ Blinken over victory amid election challenges

“I don’t foresee that there will be any drastic changes. China will still be one of the biggest investors in Indonesia,” said Yohanes Sulaiman, an international relations lecturer at the University of Achmad Yani in West Java.

In terms of defence collaboration, Sulaiman expected Prabowo to lean closer to the West than China, continuing the country’s partnership with the US and Europe that had been forged for decades.

“Militarily, Prabowo himself is closer to the US and Europe, than China. China cannot assume that it will get a replacement for Jokowi whose policies will be exactly like Jokowi’s. China must be more careful,” Sulaiman said, referring to Widodo’s popular nickname.

Indonesia’s election commission released its official tally late on Wednesday, declaring that Prabowo, who is Widodo’s defence minister, won the February 14 election with around 58.6 per cent of the vote.

Shortly after the announcement, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in a Facebook post that he was the first world leader to congratulate Prabowo on his victory.

“This is quite meaningful because it symbolises the value of friendship between Malaysia and Indonesia, which is very special as a close and important neighbouring country,” Anwar said. “Both of us are determined to strengthen bilateral relations that cover various aspects as neighbouring countries and pledge to cooperate closely in various multilateral forums, especially within the scope of Asean.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement congratulating President-elect Prabowo and lauding “the Indonesian people for their robust turnout and commitment to democracy and the rule of law”.

“The United States and Indonesia are celebrating 75 years of our diplomatic relationship grounded in democracy and pluralism. As close partners and friends under our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, we are working hand in hand to deliver a better future for our citizens. We look forward to partnering closely with President-elect Subianto and his administration when they take office in October,” Blinken said.

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Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement on Thursday saying that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had sent a congratulatory letter to Prabowo conveying “his intention to work together on bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas as well as on regional and global issues, touching on the bilateral relationship that was elevated to a Comprehensive and Strategic Partnership last year, when the two countries celebrated the 65th anniversary of their diplomatic relations”.

Prabowo also received congratulatory cables from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the Saudi Press Agency, in which they wished the Indonesian people further progress and prosperity.

US President Joe Biden sent a congratulatory letter to Prabowo on March 12, which was delivered by Yohannes Abraham, the US’ ambassador to Asean.

“Together, we have also safeguarded international stability, including forging a future for the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, prosperous, and secure. Your partnership as Indonesia’s Minister of Defence has been critical in these efforts,” Biden wrote.

Election challenges

Despite the announcement of the Prabowo’s victory by Indonesia’s election commission, his two challengers do not consider the results a settled matter.

Anies on Thursday filed a complaint with the country’s Constitutional Court contesting Prabowo win over allegations of irregularities and fraud.

“We officially submitted the request for an election dispute petition to the Constitutional Court,” Anies’s legal chief Ari Yusuf Amir told reporters outside their campaign headquarters.

Prabowo’s campaign has been mired in allegations that President Widodo had interfered in the electoral process in a bid to establish a political dynasty. His eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, was in the race as Prabowo’s vice-presidential running mate.

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Anies’ team said the aim of the complaint was to improve future elections and Indonesia’s young democracy, which emerged from decades of autocratic rule in the late 1990s.

In October, Widodo was widely criticised after the Constitutional Court, then led by his brother-in-law, issued a controversial ruling that allowed political candidates to be exempted from the minimum age requirement of 40, if they had previously been elected to office, paving the way for 36-year-old Gibran, the current mayor of Solo, to join Prabowo’s ticket.

“[Anies’ complaint] is a good thing, because this is the worst election that we have after Reformasi,” said Bivitri Susanti, a constitutional law expert with the Jakarta-based Jentera Law School. Reformasi refers to a period where Indonesia transitioned into democracy following the resignation of dictator Suharto in 1998.

“From the start, the legitimacy of the Prabowo-Gibran pair was already low. Gibran could run in the election by using the connection that he has in the Constitutional Court, which was his uncle. In other countries, this would be a big scandal,” she said. “Aside from filing a lawsuit to the Court, I think that political parties in the House of Representatives should use their rights to inquire against the government.”

Anies’ team said the aim of the complaint was to improve future elections and Indonesia’s young democracy.

Anies, who earned 24.9 per cent of the vote in the election commission’s official tally, refused to concede after the results were released, condemning Prabowo’s route to victory.

“Leadership that was born out of a process tainted by cheating and violations will result in a regime that will produce policies that are full of unfairness, and we don’t want this to happen,” he said in a statement.

Ganjar Pranowo, who was the candidate for the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), also said on Thursday his team was preparing to file a complaint with the Constitutional Court over the election results, that would be submitted on Friday or Saturday.

“If Ganjar and his team do file a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court, then the trial process will be more intense and more dynamic,” said Wasisto Raharjo Jati, a political researcher with the National Research and Innovation Agency.

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The open-trial nature of the court could “educate the public that this year’s elections are not completely free and fair in principle. Many behind-the-scenes dealings are in opposition to that principle”, Wasisto said.

“If it is proven that there have been serious violations of the law, there could be potential for re-election, but the chance for that is still small.”

Prabowo was widely predicted to win the presidency on his third attempt, after losing in 2014 and 2019.

His legal team was confident the result would not be successfully challenged because of his majority and wide margin of victory, local media has reported.

He will take over for Widodo in October after a transition period.

With additional reporting from AFP