JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated Sunday as the eighth president of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, completing his journey from an ex-general accused of rights abuses during the dark days of Indonesia’s military dictatorship to the presidential palace.
The former defense minister, who turned 73 on Thursday, was cheered through the streets by thousands of waving supporters after taking his oath on the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in front of lawmakers and foreign dignitaries.
Leaders and senior officials from more than 40 countries flew in to attend the ceremony in the capital, Jakarta, including from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Russia, South Korea, China, Australia and fellow Southeast Asian nations.
Subianto was a longtime rival of the immensely popular President Joko Widodo, who ran against him for the presidency twice and refused to accept his defeat on both occasions, in 2014 and 2019.
But Widodo appointed Subianto as defense chief after his reelection, paving the way for an alliance despite their rival political parties. During the campaign, Subianto ran as the popular outgoing president’s heir, vowing to continue signature policies like the construction of a multibillion-dollar new capital city and limits on exporting raw materials intended to boost domestic industry.
Backed by Widodo, Subianto swept to a landslide victory in February’s direct presidential election on promises of policy continuity.
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Edna Tarigan and Andi Jatmiko contributed to this report.