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Indonesia 2024 election results show Prabowo Subianto ahead, so who is the former army commander?
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Indonesia, one of the world’s largest democracies, and the biggest predominantly Muslim one, is about to get a new leader. It’s a young, vibrant democracy — half of the nation’s 205 million registered voters are under 40. After polls closed on Monday the huge job of counting ballots got under way across the thousands of islands that make up the Indonesian archipelago.
Who is front-runner Prabowo Subianto?
Indonesia’s current Defense Minister, Prabowo Subianto, was ahead in the polls before the vote and had a commanding lead in unofficial results Monday. With about 70% of the ballots counted, the 72-year-old former army general appeared to have captured around 58% of the vote. If he holds that lead, and gets more than 50% in the final tally, he will avoid a runoff with an outright win.
A wealthy former military man with close ties to the current government, this is Subianto’s third bid for the presidency.
Eko Siswono Toyudho/Anadolu/Getty
He’s a controversial figure, having served as a top commander under Indonesia’s former long-time dictator Suharto. Subianto was accused of human rights abuses during that period, and was even barred from entering the U.S. at one point during the 1990s.
In 1998, he was dishonorably dismissed from the army after being linked to the abduction of more than 20 student democracy activists — 13 of whom have never been found.
Subianto’s social media rebranding
Ahead of this year’s elections, the former army commander underwent a remarkable makeover, largely via TikTok, which was hugely influential in the campaign.
Subianto used the platform to re-brand himself as a cuddly, cat-loving grandfather — and one who isn’t ashamed to cut some pretty awkward dad-dance moves onstage at rallies.
The new image appears to have won over a decisive number of young Indonesian voters, many of whom may not remember his previous incarnations.
What kind of leader would Subianto be?
Indonesia has been on something of an economic roll. The relatively small island nation has become a huge and vital supplier of nickel to the electric vehicle industry worldwide. It also produces palm oil, which is used in a wide array of food products.
Indonesia has managed to keep good relations with both China and the U.S., even participating in military exercises with the U.S. and its regional allies while keeping Chinese foreign investment flowing into a whole range of development projects.
Subianto has said he’s committed to remaining on good terms with both superpowers.
But Subianto’s critics warn that, at heart, he is a right-wing populist.
He has always denied wrong-doing linked to his time commanding Indonesian security forces, but he’s also said that Indonesia needs an authoritarian leader, and suggested it would be a good idea to abolish presidential term limits.
Democracy activists warn that Subianto is Indonesia’s next authoritarian strongman just waiting to happen.
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Watch Live: Biden awards Medal of Honor to 2 Union soldiers who hijacked train behind enemy lines
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Washington — President Biden is awarding posthumous Medals of Honor on Wednesday to two Army privates who were a part of a plot to hijack a train and destroy Confederate infrastructure during the Civil War.
The president will honor Philip Shadrach and George Wilson for their “gallantry and intrepidity” in carrying out a covert operation called the “Great Locomotive Chase,” which played out 200 miles behind Confederate lines in Georgia in 1862, the White House said.
“In one of the earliest special operations in U.S. Army history, Union Soldiers dressed as civilians infiltrated the Confederacy, hijacked a train in Georgia and drove it north for 87 miles, destroying enemy infrastructure along the way. During what later became known as the Great Locomotive Chase, six of the Union participants became the Army’s first recipients of the newly created Medal of Honor,” a White House official said.
The operation was hatched by James Andrews, a Kentucky-born civilian spy and scout. He proposed penetrating the Confederacy with the goal of degrading their railway and communications lines to cut off Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Confederate supplies and reinforcements.
Andrews, together with 23 other men, infiltrated the South in small groups, coming together north of Atlanta. On April 12, 1862, 22 of the men commandeered a locomotive called The General and ventured north, tearing up railroad tracks and cutting telegraph wires as they went. The men became known as the Andrews’ Raiders.
Shadrach, originally from Pennsylvania and orphaned at a young age, was just 21 when he volunteered for the mission. On Sept. 20, 1861, he left home and enlisted in a Union Army Ohio Infantry Regiment. Wilson, born in Ohio, was a journeyman shoemaker before he enlisted in a Union Army’s Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861. He also volunteered for the Andrews’ Raid.
After the operation, both men were captured, convicted as spies and hanged.
“It is unknown why Private Shadrach and Private Wilson were not originally recommended for the Medal of Honor,” a White House official said. “Both were deserving in 1863, and on July 3, 2024, by order of the President of the United States both will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.”
The ceremony comes as questions mount over Mr. Biden’s future as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, with his public appearances under intense scrutiny following his halting performance at last week’s presidential debate. After the Medal of Honor ceremony, the president is meeting with Democratic governors to address their concerns and chart his path forward.
How to watch Biden present the Medal of Honor
- What: President Biden awards the Medal of Honor
- Date: July 3, 2024
- Time: 4:45 p.m. ET
- Location: White House
- Online stream: Live on CBS News in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device.
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