Shades of Prabowo Subianto

When Donald Trump tweeted, "I will be making a statement tonight. A big WIN!" on November 4th, Indonesians took to Twitter and commented that the host of The Apprentice show (and American president) was simply acting like General Prabowo Subianto. 

In 2014, Prabowo ran as a presidential candidate against Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, the current president. 

He had worked as a Commander of the Army Strategic Command under Suharto, the president of Indonesia between 1968 and 1998, and was linked to the severe human rights abuse during the referendum in Timor Leste.  Later after Suharto stepped down, Prabowo was fired after being found guilty abducting pro-democracy activists. He became a businessman, running mines and palm oil farms. 

He lost the election in 2014, but claimed he would challenge the results in the constitutional court. In 2019, he ran for the second time and lost again. Over the course of his campaign, he made several gaffes. In one instance, he referred to studies claiming that Indonesia would be torn apart; it was later revealed that the “study” he was referring to was in fact a work of science fiction. He campaigned on anti-China prejudices and claimed that terrorists were pretending to be Muslim to taint Islam. His slogan was “Make Indonesia Great Again.” In April 2019, Prabowo lost the election with almost 20 million fewer votes than his opponent. Nonetheless, he gave a so-called victory speech in front of his supporters, most of them conservative Muslims. He wasn’t satisfied with claiming victory; he also circulated a rumor about the fraud in the polling station and suspected that there was an effort to frame that he lost the election. 

"We ask all volunteers to guard our victory at the TPS [the ballot polling station] and sub-districts. I also emphasize here to the people that there are efforts by certain survey institutions that have already worked for one party, to lead opinions as if we lost," he said.

Trump presidential campaign team will challenge the election result in the court. Another deja vu for Indonesians: Prabowo also filed a lawsuit. Prabowo lost in the court. But he accepted the results and took up a post in the current president Jokowi’s cabinet as defense minister, ending up essentially where he had begun.

This meek ending to a political story may have to do with the difference between American  and Indonesian politics. After the election, the elected president eventually recruits the elites in the opposition to fill the cabinet position—what former Financial Times correspondent Benjamin Bland calls “transactional” politics. As the opposition agreed to compromise, they no longer challenge the party in power. 

But American politics are not as fluid. Indonesians are going to witness how far Trump and the team will go.