Indonesia’s president-elect Prabowo Subianto to visit China

The former general, who will take office in October after his sweeping victory was confirmed last week, has been invited by President Xi Jinping

Relations between the two countries have been good under current President Joko Widodo, who was widely seen as tacitly supporting Prabowo’s campaign

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Prabowo Subianto has been confirmed as the winner of Indonesia’s presidential election, although his rivals are challenging the result. Photo: AP

Published: 9:58pm, 29 Mar 2024Updated: 1:37am, 30 Mar 2024

China has invited Indonesia’s president-elect Prabowo Subianto for a three-day visit starting on Sunday.

Prabowo, whose victory is facing a legal challenge from the losing candidates, will be there at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday.

The 72-year-old leader of the right-wing nationalist Gerindra Party was officially confirmed by the election commission last week as the winner of the Indonesian presidential election with just over 58 per cent of votes. He will assume office in October.

However, his two rivals, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, have asked the constitutional court to re-run the poll by the end of April and disqualify him from the ballot.

Prabowo currently serves as Indonesia’s defence minister, and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka is the son of President Joko Widodo.

The losing candidates accused the outgoing president, commonly known as Jokowi, of interfering in the election by tacitally supporting Prabowo and using the state apparatus to help his campaign, accusations he denies.

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