Likely Election of Indonesia’s Pro-China Defense Minister as President Leaves Washington Nonplussed

Suddenly the Biden administration has to kiss and make up with the Indonesian military leader who was banned from coming to America for two decades. That’s because the country’s defense minister, Prabowo Subianto, is virtually certain to become Indonesia’s next president.So Washington has been pulling out all the stops in a bid to keep the sprawling Southeast Asian nation on its side in competition with regional rival Communist China. The tally of more than 100 million ballots in the fourth most populated nation may not be known for weeks, but polls show Mr. Prabowo the winner with 60 percent of the votes.On Thursday, the State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, was downright effusive in his congratulations on the election, but studiously avoided naming names. The diplomatic rhetoric was over the top, positively ecstatic, even if there was no hint of anything to do with Mr. Prabowo.“We congratulate the Indonesian people for their robust turnout in today’s election,” said Mr.Miller, proclaiming the vote “a testament to the durability and strength of the Indonesian people’s commitment to the democratic process and electoral institutions.”Indonesia’s 267 million people are predominantly Muslim, making it the world’s largest Islamic country, ahead of Pakistan, population 243 million. It’s a sure bet that the State Department and White House will do their best to overlook Mr. Prabowo’s record of kidnapping and torture that got him dishonorably discharged by the Indonesian army and then blacklisted by a succession of America leaders, including Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama.How could it be otherwise considering that Indonesia’s current president, Joko Widodo, sat down with President Biden in the White House in November. The two ushered in what the White House called “a historic new phase in our bilateral relations” in which they “elevated U.S.-Indonesia ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership?”Mr. Widodo, having defeated Mr. Prabowo in two previous presidential elections, is barred by Indonesia’s constitution from seeking a third five-year term, but his son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, will keep his flame. Mr. Prabowo selected Mr. Raka as his vice presidential running mate to be sure of capturing adherents of the highly popular Mr. Widobo. Mr. Raka, 36, is half the age of the 72-year-old Mr. Prabowo.In a society in which family ties are critical, Mr. Prabowo married a daughter of the late Indonesian dictator, Suharto. As a lieutenant general in command of Indonesia’s special forces, Mr. Prabowo “has been accused of a string of human rights violations,” the BBC reports, including “the alleged abduction and killing of pro-democracy student activists decades ago.” Mr. Prabowo, for his part, told Al Jazeera that some “kidnappings in 1998 were done out of honor” during his tenure as a general. “I carried out operations that were legal at the time,” he explained. “If a new government said I was at fault I was here to take full responsibility.” Although Mr. Prabowo has denied any role in killing activist foes of the Suharto regime, he’s a strongman whose record as an authoritarian general does not augur well for democracy in Indonesia. Lately he’s been softening his image, but he’s seen as a figure who’s sure to crack down hard on dissent as he did under Suharto, who ruled for more than three decades after the fall of the country’s first president, Sukarno, known for his pro-China, pro-communist leanings.Now the challenge for Washington is to be sure Mr. Prabowo is committed to the same level of good-will expressed by Mr. Biden when he thanked Mr. Widobo “for Indonesia’s leadership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations” and stressed what the White House said was America’s “commitment to deepening our cooperation in Southeast Asia and with Indonesia.”Updated to include State Department comments Thursday.

Likely Election of Indonesia’s Pro-China Defense Minister as President Leaves Washington Nonplussed

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