Indonesia formally declares Prabowo Subianto president-elect

Subianto on Wednesday celebrated his victory and the fact that the election contest was over. He won roughly 58 percent of the vote in the country’s latest elections before facing court challenges to his victory. The nation’s highest court ultimately rejected those challenges. Subianto called on the people of Indonesia to unite and work for the benefit of their country. In Indonesia, the president can serve two five-year terms.

What sort of man is Subianto? Amnesty International criticized the U.S. State Department in 2020 for lifting a 20-year travel ban on Subianto. The organization said in a letter that Subianto had engaged in human rights abuses while he was in the military. Those alleged abuses included enforced disappearances, as well as abductions of pro-democracy activists. Official independent investigations found that he was responsible for the crimes, but the allegations were never tried in court, according to Amnesty International. Subianto has denied wrongdoing.

What has the United States had to say about his election? U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin have congratulated Subianto on his victory. Biden promised to increase cooperation between the United States and Indonesia. Secretary Austin emphasized the two countries’ shared values.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s conversation with Michael Sobolik, a fellow in Indo-Pacific studies at the American Foreign Policy Council, on The World and Everything in It podcast about Biden’s track record on confronting China in the Indo-Pacific region.