Indonesian hardliners label Prabowo Subianto ‘traitor’ for meeting with Jokowi

Muslim hardliners have turned their backs on Indonesia’s defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, after the former army general met leader Joko Widodo for the first time since the hotly contested April elections.

The elections saw Prabowo form an alliance with a number of Muslim hardline groups that analysts have said only viewed the presidential candidate as political vehicle to topple Jokowi and to further their own religious ambitions.

During months of campaigning, Prabowo and his vice presidential running mate Sandiaga Uno pandered to Muslim hardliners to level support against Jokowi and his running mate, Muslim cleric Maruf Amin, who were backed by the country’s biggest Islamic groups, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhamaddiyah.

Prabowo repeatedly pledged to protect Muslim groups and their clerics, while his supporters accused Jokowi of being a repressive leader who criminalised conservative Muslims.

But the alliance took a hit this week with Islamic groups declaring Prabowo “a traitor” for meeting Jokowi on Saturday at Jakarta MRT subway station in a sign of reconciliation.

“We will no longer support nor obey [Prabowo], we only obey our great imam Rizieq Shihab who is now in the holy city of Mecca,” said 212 Alumni Brotherhood, a group of Muslim hardliners that was formed to bring down former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama in 2016.

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The group referred to a radical Muslim cleric who fled to Saudi Arabia after being charged with distributing indecent material in 2017. The case was later closed due to lack of progress in the investigation.

“As Prabowo Subianto has met President Jokowi, we now say goodbye to Prabowo Subianto,” the brotherhood’s statement said.

On Friday, dozens of Muslim women voiced their opposition to the planned reconciliation in front of Prabowo’s house, saying that they will only remain loyal to the 67 year-old politician if he does not cross to the other side. Another group calling themselves Network of Youths Saving the Constituent of Prabowo-Sandi planned a protest against Prabowo on Monday, but cancelled it due to lack of permit.

“We reject the reconciliations between Prabowo and Jokowi and we demand Prabowo to fulfil his promise to be loyal to people,” the group said in a statement. “We also demand an apology from Prabowo to all of his supporters because, by meeting with Jokowi, he has hurt our feelings.”

The anti-Prabowo sentiment was also seen on Indonesian Twitter, with the hashtags #kecewa (disappointed) and #pengkhianat (betrayer) trending after Prabowo met Jokowi. Former supporters urged others to unfollow and boycott Prabowo, though many others praised him for reconciling with his former election rival.

Meanwhile, ardent government critic and Prabowo’s ally Amien Rais said he had been “blindsided” because Prabowo did not first seek permission to meet Jokowi. He said he hoped Prabowo and his party, the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), remain in opposition for the next five years.

After the meeting, Jokowi said Saturday’s meeting was a long-planned reunion between two “best friends” and it was Prabowo’s idea to meet on a subway.

“I know that he has never tried MRT so this is my chance to introduce him to MRT,” the 58 year-old president said on Twitter.

Analysts said the disappointment shown by Prabowo’s supporters laid bare non-democratic elements of the opposition leader’s leadership campaign, which sought only to damage Jokowi’s chances. Jokowi won the election with more than 55 per cent of the vote.

“I’ve seen from the start that Prabowo’s rise in this year’s elections was not due to his supporters’ love, but there are some anti-Jokowi groups among his supporters who hitched onto his campaign to oust Jokowi and democracy itself,” said Yunarto Wijaya, executive director with Jakarta-based political consultancy firm Charta Politika.

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“The fact they switched loyalty to Rizieq Shihab means that, all this time, their support for Prabowo was about their support to their ulema and their racially and religiously charged political agendas.”

Since the election, Prabowo has claimed widespread election fraud. However, Saturday’s encounter was viewed as him admitting defeat and forgoing those claims.

“Saturday’s convention is more like an unconditional reconciliation. It’s like when two old friends met,” said Pangi Syarwi Chaniago, executive director at Jakarta-based Voxpol Centre research and consulting.

“Prabowo said ‘happy working’ to Jokowi is his way to legitimise Jokowi’s win.

“This is what Jokowi had been waiting for,” Chaniago said.

Prabowo and Jokowi have yet to announce whether they plan to work together in a coalition administration.

Arya Fernandes, political researcher from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies Indonesia, said despite the warming of relations, Jokowi still had much to consider before including Gerindra in his government.

“We cannot ascertain whether Gerindra will join Jokowi’s coalition by their meeting alone,” Fernandes said. “There is a divide among political parties in the coalition about the idea of Gerindra joining.

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“If Gerindra’s included, the coalition will be too fat and some parties will lose their odds to have a member installed as a cabinet minister.”

Looking towards the 2024 presidential election, Yunarto of Charta Politika said Prabowo losing support from Muslim hardliners would not damage his chances of a comeback.

“Prabowo’s biggest prospect, if he remains healthy, is in 2024 because Jokowi cannot run again,” Yunarto said. “But he needs to remain in opposition and be a leading voice in controversial issues. That way he can maintain support from anti-Jokowi groups.”