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https://theconversation.com/indonesias-new-president-prabowo-subianto-finds-democracy-very-tiring-are-darker-days-ahead-for-the-country-241256>
"Former General Prabowo Subianto will be sworn in as Indonesia’s eighth
president today. Twenty-five years ago he was a pariah, and for good reason.
He faced accusations of human rights abuses in Papua and East Timor, and in
1998, special forces troops under his command had abducted democracy activists
in Jakarta, 13 of whom have never been seen again. Those who did return had
been tortured.
The students had been calling for the resignation of President Soeharto,
Prabowo’s father-in-law, who finally stepped down in May 1998 after widespread
rioting that many believe Prabowo helped engineer. Then, backed by troops under
his command, Prabowo tried to storm the presidential palace, gun in hand, to
threaten the new president, BJ Habibie.
Prabowo never went on trial for the disappearances of the activists, though he
was banned from travelling to the United States for two decades.
And his cherished military career quickly ended – he was dismissed from the
army for “misinterpreting orders”. Disgraced, and seen as embodying the
violence and repression of Soeharto’s regime, Prabowo went into voluntary exile
in Jordan. It seemed he had no future in the democratic Reformasi (reformation)
system that began to emerge from the ruins of the repressive New Order.
But Prabowo was far from finished. His rehabilitation and extraordinary climb
to the presidency may now signal the end of Indonesia’s fragile, aspirational
liberal democracy and a return to the New Order model."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
