A year after Prabowo Subianto’s election, Indonesia’s democracy is under strain as power centralises, dissent is curtailed and the military’s influence grows.

Prabowo Subianto, a former army general with a disputed record of human rights abuses, was elected president last year through a democratic vote. Now he’s trying to destroy the system:

“Democracy needs a rewrite to suit the times because it’s not the Indonesian way.” Translation: Not his way.

“Our new political paradigm must be uniquely Indonesian. We cannot follow the politics of other countries. Western democracy may not necessarily suit us.” Not a message to encourage the legit overseas investors he craves.

Video of the portly Prabowo, then 73, shuffling around the floor during last year’s campaign was  o captivating (and embarrassing) that voters assumed he was now a fun fellow, a cuddly grandpa.

As Venezuelan Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said when accepting the Nobel Peace Prize this month: “Many thought that charisma could substitute the rule of law.”

Voters with memories assumed Prabowo had reformed, learned to relax alongside young people led by the dour slim lad on his ticket. Small-town caterer Gibran Rakabuming Raka is half his superior’s age and has a unique quality as the eldest son of Prabowo’s predecessor, the quiet-mannered President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo.

Gibran, a civilian like his Dad,  wouldn’t know whether the trigger is in the butt or muzzle. He’s married and has two kids, so relatable.

It’s a great combo for the electors – age and experience, plus enthusiasm and vigour. No surprise that the other two capable candidates couldn’t get a leg up in the race, let alone on the dance floor.

The music stopped suddenly – as foreseen. Old men hate being measured against cool cats who can handstand while dialling WhatsApp.

The President and Vice President have nothing personal in common. One’s a warhorse, the other a pony. For the past year, Gibran has trotted along the plotted path, trying to smile. He’d like to get frisky, but that’s risky.

His credibility and threat levels to the Presidency have come down with his gaffes – he told expectant Mums to quaff sulphuric acid to avoid stunted babes. The corrosive is used in car batteries and drain cleaners.

He meant folic acid, aka vitamin B9. Women know more about pregnancies and medicines than men, even elected ones, so he said ‘sorry’. Another error: The Palace rule is to blame victims and never apologise.

More seriously, he was legally attacked by retired military men for becoming Vice President through nepotism and corrupting the Constitution. The vets either couldn’t maintain their rage or were warned off; the issue briefly dashed ahead but never got traction.

Once in office, Prabowo summoned his rivals for an unrefusable offer.

They could retain their praiseworthy purity as elected opponents with no facilities, or swell the bloated ministry in Jakarta, and enjoy lush offices and salaries few Indonesians can wrap their sarongs around.

The victors of democracy got other bonuses - green camo uniforms and combat boots. If they wanted a vehicle to impress constituents, it had to be a Maung (tiger), a Land Rover lookalike designed for quick conversion from leisure to warfare.

In brief, the doctrine that militaries and base politicians use for monochromes: ‘You’re either for us or against us.’ Decisions were predictable.

When the news broke of the deal, it was back to street warfare. Riots cost ten lives and hundreds of injuries; buildings and vehicles were torched.

The Jakarta Globe reported that the protests were powered by “public anger over lawmakers’ AUD $4,500 monthly housing allowance, seen as emblematic of elite privilege at a time of economic hardship.” Motorbike delivery guy Affan Kurniawan was working, not protesting, when crushed by a 14-tonne armoured carrier. Outrage erupted.

Prabowo told the media he’d ordered “stern action against rioters and looters,” blaming unnamed others, though not the driver of the killer vehicle: “Some of the unrest bore the signs of terrorism and treason,” he frothed. No details. POTUS would have been proud.

Almost 4,300 people were allegedly arrested for violations of freedom of assembly and expression throughout 2025 – 70 per cent during the ‘Ash August’ demos.

Before the streets had been hosed down schoolrooms needed a washout from the free-meal food poisoning scandal that crippled 10,000 young students.

Infuriated by criticism of his pet project, Prabowo turned to stats rather than apologies, claiming only 0.00017 per cent of meals served had been crook. The heartless message was no solace for thousands of parents, tearing soiled undies off their screaming beloveds.

His office cancelled the pass of a professional reporter who dared to ask how he intended to handle the crisis. She’s learned her place, and it’s not in the Palace press corps.

Next year, the scheme will cost AUD $30 billion, three times more than the funds spent so far. Health and education budgets are being plundered to make up the shortfall.

Then came the floods in Sumatra that took a thousand lives. Prabowo can’t be blamed for the weather, but he’s responsible for unchecked developers felling forests, loosening the soil, and triggering landslides.

Tempo magazine discovered 23 mining permits had been allocated in the areas most damaged.

Lesser regimes might rethink policies, but the Special Envoy for Climate and Energy says Indonesia will keep excavating and exporting coal, whatever the international community thinks. No risk that Hashim Djojohadikusumo’s snub to the Greenies will be reversed – his brother is the Prez.

It took Prabowo six days to visit after devastated regional governments had howled for the declaration of a national state of emergency; he only promised to rebuild infrastructure and "confront" climate change, whatever that means.

In Aceh, he announced that the situation was improving and that the current arrangements were “sufficient”. Victims’ videos showed otherwise. He then went to Pakistan.

Is PS callous like his idol, Trump? We don’t know; tough talks with independent journos aren’t happening.

The divorcee is happiest as a bloke’s bloke standing in a Maung ploughing through ranks of saluters. His fashion designer son Didit Hediprasetyo, 41,  prefers to be seen around Paris catwalks than rifle ranges.

It’s been reported that Prabowo is militarising the civil service and promoting officers into management where merit and experience aren’t prerequisites.

After a year in office, we’ve learned the Republic’s eighth President is neither cuddly nor a gramps. More than half of the nation’s 285 million aren’t driven by testosterone, so governing for all needs the quality of inclusion. Five of his 53 ministers are women. That smells of misogyny.

Prabowo has 46 months left to strut; Indonesian men’s life expectancy is under 70. Should Allah beckon, we may yet see a President Gibran.

That could trigger another Year of Living Dangerously. The military and oligarchs would turn restive. It wouldn’t be the best time for democracy – or tourism.