Opinion | Is Indonesia’s Prabowo solidifying legitimacy with China, Japan and Malaysia visits?
- Prabowo’s visits may indicate that influential countries recognise him as the next Indonesian president and lend him more legitimacy
- The visits could also be a strong signal that Prabowo still has a good relationship with Widodo and smooth his path to office
A defence minister’s courtesy calls take on a different significance, albeit only slightly, when he will take over as Indonesia’s president in a matter of months.
Even as president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s opponents are still challenging his electoral victory, many international leaders have already congratulated him. Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Prabowo as president-elect to visit Beijing; Prabowo also visited Japan and Malaysia after that. What was the significance of Prabowo’s visits to these countries for his legitimacy as president-elect and his future foreign policy?
There were several possible explanations. First, Prabowo – who is still President Joko Widodo’s defence minister – might have wanted to show the Indonesian people that, despite the ongoing constitutional court challenge against his election win, countries that are influential nevertheless recognise him as the next president.
China is a rising superpower in economy and technology, Japan is an American ally which is also economically influential in Indonesia, while Malaysia is Indonesia’s “blood brother” (saudara serumpun) that shares common interests, including strong support for Palestinians and their stance on the EU Deforestation Regulation that affects palm oil exports.
Meeting foreign leaders would allow Prabowo to show that he is already acknowledged by them as Indonesia’s president-elect and lend him more legitimacy.
Second, Prabowo probably intended to send a strong signal to domestic and international audiences that he still has a good relationship with Widodo – popularly known as Jokowi – and will continue his development policies. Prabowo might have also wanted to counter growing rumours that there is a split between him and Jokowi over the latter’s potential influence in the new administration.
01:53
Indonesia’s new leader Prabowo Subianto meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing
Particularly for the Chinese audience, Prabowo could have wanted to promote cordial relations with Beijing so that the two countries can continue to cooperate on trade and economics. Jokowi’s foreign policy has been very friendly towards China – Prabowo would want Beijing to know he will follow in the same direction when he takes over in October.
