President Prabowo Subianto waving before departing for India at the Halim Perdanakusama Air Force Base in Jakarta, on Jan 23, 2025. - Antara
JAKARTA: President Prabowo Subianto ’s leadership style, with his knack for powerful speeches and fondness for the military, has set him apart from his predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in his first 100 days in office.
Despite a pledge of continuity, observers suggest Indonesia’s new leader has embarked on a mission that seemingly departs from the previous era’s legacy.
While his predecessor focused on domestic policies and showed reluctance to go abroad and engage with foreign policies, Prabowo has already embarked on a series of foreign trips to major countries including China, the United States, Brazil and India.
Prabowo’s departure continued with Indonesia’s rapid accession to BRICS membership this month, which was not seen as a priority by Jokowi.
Indonesia has become the first South-East Asian country to become a permanent member in the group of emerging economies, surpassing Malaysia and Thailand, which have shown similar interest.
The new administration of Prabowo and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s first son, hit its 100-day mark on Tuesday.
Prabowo so far has received an overwhelmingly positive approval rating of around 80 per cent, according to pollsters Indikator Politik Indonesia and Litbang Kompas.
The figure is about 18 percentage points higher than that of Jokowi in his first few months as president in 2015 and five percentage points higher than his rating at the end of his administration last year.
The high approval rating was achieved regardless of the fact that Prabowo is still struggling to implement his flagship programmes, including free nutritious meals for all schoolchildren and pregnant women.
Prabowo has also held off from rushing his government to finish the construction of Jokowi's flagship project the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) since assuming office.
The Indikator survey, released on Monday, found that the leading factor in Prabowo’s approval rating so far was his leadership, which respondents deemed “firm, commanding, brave and wise”.
Analyst Noory Oktarizha of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) suggested that Prabowo’s ability to carve a firm and powerful image early on partly came through in his work trips to foreign countries.
“During these meetings with world leaders, Prabowo seemed very confident and comfortable,” Noory told The Jakarta Post on Monday, noting that his ability to match other leaders on his own was “rather impressive”.
Prabowo’s leadership is also notable for its lack of impromptu visits or blusukan, a signature move of Jokowi.
Political analyst Adi Prayitno suggested that this style sets Prabowo apart from the “commoner” image that Jokowi fostered throughout his administration.
“Whatever the reasoning behind [the lack of blusukan], it shows that Prabowo is a political aristocrat, unlike Jokowi, who came from humble beginnings,” Adi said.
Prabowo came from a wealthy cosmopolitan family and long dabbled in both the military and party politics, in contrast to Jokowi’s upbringing as a former furniture maker in the small town of Surakarta.
Litbang Kompas research manager Ignatius Kristanto said that in place of blusukan, Prabowo has resorted “to grabbing people’s hearts” through fiery public speeches.
“If Jokowi went into the streets to maintain his popularity, Prabowo’s power is in his very powerful speeches that seek to convey his populist programmes,” Ignatius said during the survey’s release last week.
Litbang Kompas attributed Prabowo’s 80.9 per cent approval rating to policies like the free meals programme, which has yet to reach its target of nationwide distribution and which remains poor in quality.
Noory of CSIS also saw a growing presence of the military in the government and the public sphere during Prabowo’s presidency, which Noory attributed to Prabowo’s background as a former Army general.
Shortly after his inauguration, Prabowo brought his ministers to a three-day retreat at the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java, where they slept in tents and experienced military-like activities.
The military currently plays a part in running Prabowo’s flagship free meals programme in several regions, from meal preparation to distribution to a number of schools.
And just recently, the president ordered the Navy to take down a controversial sea fence of unexplained origin off the Tangerang coast that has prompted a debate about the issue of unlicensed marine reclamation.
“It seems that the Prabowo is more comfortable communicating with the military, unlike Jokowi who tended to utilise the police forces,” Noory said.
“Prabowo might see the armed forces as more helpful to cut through the long bureaucracy to get things done.”
The Prabowo administration is also looking to discuss with lawmakers the revision of a law on the Indonesian Military (TNI) that could pave the way for military officers to return to civilian affairs, a move that human rights groups deemed “worrying” and have heavily objected to.
While Indikator analyst Kennedy Muslim predicted that Prabowo’s differing approach from Jokowi would not affect domestic political stability, he was wary that the president’s largely uncontested voice in the government could hurt his policies’ quality.
“Prabowo’s tendency to embrace all elements and political parties without leaving a single party outside the government will certainly have consequences in terms of its technocratic aspects and policy execution due to any lack of criticism,” Kennedy said on Wednesday.
Only the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) remains outside of Prabowo’s government, and even it has said it will be a “good strategic partner” to his administration. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
Save 30% for ads-free and full access now!
