Indonesia swears in ex-general Prabowo Subianto as president

Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Prabowo Subianto has been sworn in as Indonesia’s eighth president. This completes his journey from an ex-general accused of rights abuses during the dark days of Indonesia’s military dictatorship to the presidential palace. The former defense minister was cheered through the streets Sunday by thousands of waving supporters after taking his oath on the Quran. Subianto was a longtime rival of the immensely popular President Joko Widodo, who ran against him for the presidency twice and refused to accept his defeat on both occasions in 2014 and 2019. But Widodo appointed Subianto defense chief after his reelection that paved the way for an alliance despite their rival political parties.