[JAKARTA] Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto flew overnight to China to join dozens of world leaders at Xi Jinping’s military parade, signalling confidence he’s defused the country’s worst protest violence in years and pivoting to global diplomacy.
His departure late Tuesday (Sep 2) from Jakarta comes days after protesters rampaged across several cities, leaving at least 10 dead, and looting some lawmakers’ homes, the most serious political test of his 10-month presidency.
The president “monitored the entire situation and received reports from all relevant levels that public life has returned to normal” in Indonesia, State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said in a press briefing late Tuesday. The trip, originally scheduled for Saturday, was delayed “due to domestic dynamics”, he said.
In announcing Prabowo’s planned one-night trip, his government sought to underscore a sense of unity and that the social unrest in Indonesia may have already peaked. While there were still pockets of demonstrations in Jakarta and other major cities, there was relative calm on Tuesday, and many companies in the capital city have allowed their employees to return to the office.
Prabowo’s government acceded to a key demand of demonstrators, including scrapping the hefty lawmaker allowances that angered Indonesians, and signalled it would pursue policies to help workers and target corruption. The police and military have also stepped up their presence after violence and looting over the weekend.
Markets showed some signs of stabilising on Tuesday, with the rupiah edging up 0.1 per cent and the benchmark stock index rising 0.9 per cent.
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Prabowo, a former general who first rose to prominence under ousted dictator Suharto, has aggressively and unapologetically sought to wield the power of the state to implement his vision of growth, focused mainly on public programmes, and reinstate a central role in governance for the country’s military.
His trip to Beijing also underscores his interest in using China as a model for Indonesia’s development, with particular interest in Deng Xiaoping, widely credited with engineering the country’s transformative economic opening.
China’s Xi on Wednesday is expected to use the parade, meant to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, to showcase his nation’s growing diplomatic sway and military might.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will also be gracing the event on Wednesday. Prabowo skipped the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin on Sunday, opting to stay at home instead to address the worst protests yet of his 10 months as president.
“In recent days, there have been strong requests from the Chinese government for President Prabowo Subianto to attend,” Hadi said. During the visit, he said: “There will be discussions that, we hope, will bring good results to the relationship between Indonesia and the Chinese government.” BLOOMBERG
