New Indonesia Leader Strikes Harsher Tone as He Takes Power
- New president focuses on fighting corruption and poverty
- Nation won’t choose sides amid US-China rivalry, Prabowo says
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Indonesia’s new leader Prabowo Subianto endeared himself to voters as a kindly grandfather vowing to give free meals to schoolchildren. Now to get things rolling in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, the president is signaling a strongman approach.
The former general used his maiden speech on Sunday to rail against corruption and poverty, a stark departure from his soft-spoken predecessor Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi. And as Prabowo led lawmakers in parliament to chant the Indonesian word for independence, he said: “Those who do not shout merdeka are not patriotic.”