Margaret Scott

Mar 30, 2024 | nybooks.com | Willa Glickman |Margaret Scott

In February Prabowo Subianto—who as a commander and, later, general in the Indonesian army during the “New Order” Suharto dictatorship had led units accused of human rights abuses in Indonesia and East Timor—was elected president of Indonesia, raising concerns about the future of democracy in the country after twenty years of stability. Prabowo is the handpicked successor of the current president, Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi.

Mar 14, 2024 | nybooks.com | Margaret Scott

The strategy of Indonesian president Joko Widodo—known by all as Jokowi—has worked: his chosen successor, Prabowo Subianto, and his own son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, were elected president and vice-president on February 14 in a landslide, with more than 58 percent of the vote. It is really Jokowi’s victory, though, long in the planning and enormously consequential.