adminAmy Chew
Stramed, When Donald Trump took to Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday morning to proclaim he would be making a statement about “a big WIN!” before all the votes in the US presidential election had been counted, many Indonesians felt a sense of déjà vu.
It was, after all, only April last year when Prabowo Subianto – Indonesia’s current defence minister – declared himself the winner in that country’s presidential election before the vote tally was complete.
He did so at least three times, saying in one speech that his was a “victory for … all of the Indonesian people”, while on another occasion he appeared in an open-top car waving to crowds who chanted “President Prabowo!”
When all the votes had been counted, however, it was incumbent President Joko Widodo who emerged victorious. He is now serving his second and final term.
Although the full results of the US election have yet to be declared, Indonesian Twitter users were quick to point out the similarities between Trump’s and Prabowo’s early victory calls.
Prabowo Subianto greets supporters of his presidential campaign from a vehicle in Palembang, South Sumatra province, in April 2019. Photo: BloombergPrabowo Subianto greets supporters of his presidential campaign from a vehicle in Palembang, South Sumatra province, in April 2019. Photo: Bloomberg
Prabowo Subianto greets supporters of his presidential campaign from a vehicle in Palembang, South Sumatra province, in April 2019. Photo: Bloomberg
When Donald Trump took to Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday morning to proclaim he would be making a statement about “a big WIN!” before all the votes in the US presidential election had been counted, many Indonesians felt a sense of déjà vu.
It was, after all, only April last year when Prabowo Subianto – Indonesia’s current defence minister – declared himself the winner in that country’s presidential election before the vote tally was complete.
Donald Trump gestures as he reacts to early results from the 2020 US presidential election on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
Donald Trump gestures as he reacts to early results from the 2020 US presidential election on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
He did so at least three times, saying in one speech that his was a “victory for … all of the Indonesian people”, while on another occasion he appeared in an open-top car waving to crowds who chanted “President Prabowo!”
When all the votes had been counted, however, it was incumbent President Joko Widodo who emerged victorious. He is now serving his second and final term.
Although the full results of the US election have yet to be declared, Indonesian Twitter users were quick to point out the similarities between Trump’s and Prabowo’s early victory calls.
“Another Prabowo detected”, said one Jakarta-based commentator in response to Trump’s initial tweet, while another called him “Prabowo US version”.
The real Prabowo did eventually accept defeat and was effectively brought into Indonesia’s ruling coalition when President Widodo offered the retired three-star general an olive branch by making him minister of defence, a role often referred to in Indonesian using the abbreviation “Menhan”.
Indonesian social media users joked that something similar would now occur in the US, with one writing in reply to a local politician’s tweet about the election: “Don’t worry, whoever loses will become the Menhan.”
Prabowo, a former commander of Indonesia’s elite Kopassus special forces unit which has been accused of committing human rights abuses in East Timor in the 1990s, was once married to the daughter of the late dictator President Suharto.
For almost two decades, he was denied a US visa – telling Reuters in 2012 that this was because of accusations he was behind the riots that killed hundreds after the fall of Suharto in 1998. That same year, he was discharged from the armed forces by a military council for ordering the abduction of pro-democracy activists, some of whom have never been found.
Last month, however, he visited the US at the invitation of Trump’s administration for a meeting with his American counterpart Mark Esper – a move analysts say was likely an effort to counter China’s growing military and defence influence in Indonesia.
The uncanny resemblance between the US and Indonesian presidential elections does not end with early victory calls, either.
Trump has threatened to mount a legal challenge against the eventual election result, vowing to take his allegations of voter fraud to the Supreme Court.
Prabowo made a similar move last year, claiming massive and systemic electoral fraud as he rejected the Indonesian election commission’s official results that declared Widodo the winner.
Prabowo Subianto greets supporters of his presidential campaign from a vehicle in Palembang, South Sumatra province, in April 2019. Photo: BloombergPrabowo Subianto greets supporters of his presidential campaign from a vehicle in Palembang, South Sumatra province, in April 2019. Photo: Bloomberg
Prabowo Subianto greets supporters of his presidential campaign from a vehicle in Palembang, South Sumatra province, in April 2019. Photo: Bloomberg
When Donald Trump took to Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday morning to proclaim he would be making a statement about “a big WIN!” before all the votes in the US presidential election had been counted, many Indonesians felt a sense of déjà vu.
It was, after all, only April last year when Prabowo Subianto – Indonesia’s current defence minister – declared himself the winner in that country’s presidential election before the vote tally was complete.
Donald Trump gestures as he reacts to early results from the 2020 US presidential election on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
Donald Trump gestures as he reacts to early results from the 2020 US presidential election on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
He did so at least three times, saying in one speech that his was a “victory for … all of the Indonesian people”, while on another occasion he appeared in an open-top car waving to crowds who chanted “President Prabowo!”
When all the votes had been counted, however, it was incumbent President Joko Widodo who emerged victorious. He is now serving his second and final term.
Although the full results of the US election have yet to be declared, Indonesian Twitter users were quick to point out the similarities between Trump’s and Prabowo’s early victory calls.
“Another Prabowo detected”, said one Jakarta-based commentator in response to Trump’s initial tweet, while another called him “Prabowo US version”.
The real Prabowo did eventually accept defeat and was effectively brought into Indonesia’s ruling coalition when President Widodo offered the retired three-star general an olive branch by making him minister of defence, a role often referred to in Indonesian using the abbreviation “Menhan”.
Indonesian social media users joked that something similar would now occur in the US, with one writing in reply to a local politician’s tweet about the election: “Don’t worry, whoever loses will become the Menhan.”
Prabowo, a former commander of Indonesia’s elite Kopassus special forces unit which has been accused of committing human rights abuses in East Timor in the 1990s, was once married to the daughter of the late dictator President Suharto.
For almost two decades, he was denied a US visa – telling Reuters in 2012 that this was because of accusations he was behind the riots that killed hundreds after the fall of Suharto in 1998. That same year, he was discharged from the armed forces by a military council for ordering the abduction of pro-democracy activists, some of whom have never been found.
Last month, however, he visited the US at the invitation of Trump’s administration for a meeting with his American counterpart Mark Esper – a move analysts say was likely an effort to counter China’s growing military and defence influence in Indonesia.
The uncanny resemblance between the US and Indonesian presidential elections does not end with early victory calls, either.
Trump has threatened to mount a legal challenge against the eventual election result, vowing to take his allegations of voter fraud to the Supreme Court.
Prabowo made a similar move last year, claiming massive and systemic electoral fraud as he rejected the Indonesian election commission’s official results that declared Widodo the winner.
A lawsuit aimed at nullifying Widodo’s victory was thrown out by the country’s constitutional court in June last year, with judges ruling Prabowo’s case was “legally groundless”.
Meanwhile, the striking similarities between Trump and Prabowo have kept Indonesians glued to news of the US elections for a second day running, with the #TrumpVsBiden hashtag still trending on Indonesian Twitter on Thursday afternoon.(SCMP)
Glembert
