“Jakarta is coming,” read the graffiti that appeared in Chile on the eve of Pinochet's coup, evoking General Suharto's bloody anti-communist crusade in Indonesia. But yesterday, Wednesday, in Jakarta, what was seen coming was a bloodless and legal seizure of power by Suharto's own son-in-law.
General Prabowo Subianto, on the third attempt, could declare himself president in the first round last night, with projections attributing 58% of the votes to him.
Of course, with the tacit but invaluable help of the man he failed to defeat in the two previous meetings, the very popular reformist Joko Widodo, “Jokowi”. His son, Gibran, forms a tandem with Prabowo, as vice president. Although Jokowi's still party has put forward its own candidate, it is clear where his heart lies. And the hearts of the people are with Jokowi.
“This victory must belong to all Indonesians,” celebrated Prabowo, still Jokowi's Defense Minister, seeing himself light years away from the 25% of votes attributed to the former governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, or the 17% of the former governor of Central Java. Ganjar Pranowo.
“We must be humble,” said the usually boastful Prabowo, who asked for “peace” while awaiting the results of the Electoral Commission, which could take 35 days. In marked contrast to the two previous elections, in which the retired military man did not accept his defeat and called for protests in which there were several deaths.
The general, much calmer at 72 years old, also announced “a government of the best, for everyone.”
It should be said that the outgoing president, Jokowi, who was not eligible for a third term, could have a second political life, at 62 years old. His latest lesson in pragmatism - or nepotism - seems taken from the neighboring Philippines, where former President Rodrigo Duterte placed his daughter Sara as vice president of Ferdinand Marcos, son of the dictator of the same name. However, it is not the peaceful Jokowi who remembers Duterte, but Prabowo.
He was banned from entering the US due to his dirty war in Papua, Timor and on university campuses. But the same thing happened to the Indian Narendra Modi, who is currently being courted.
Be that as it may, the symptoms of progress and democratic vitality in the most populous Muslim-majority country - a member of the G20 - are good news for the world.
In the legislative elections held simultaneously yesterday, the Indonesians would have left the general's party in third place, giving first place to the initials of Megawati Sukarnoputri and, still, Jokowi.
The presidency of Prabowo and Gibran makes it more credible that the next election night will be held in the new capital under construction, in Borneo. Nusantara is coming.
