JAKARTA: Indonesia’s newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto hosted his cabinet Friday at an army academy retreat in the mountains where ministers dressed in camouflage fatigues, stayed in tents and were ordered to march.
The 73-year-old former general became leader of the world’s fourth most populous nation on Sunday, pledging to bolster Indonesia’s defences and fight corruption.
Prabowo, accused of rights abuses under dictator Suharto in the late 1990s, ordered the retreat in Magelang, located in the mountains of Central Java, to drill ministers and unite them before leading the next government.
“The activity started with exercise together, led by coaches from the military academy in Magelang. After a 30-minute exercise, the agenda continued with a march training,“ said presidential spokesman Hasan Nasbi.
“What’s surprising is when the cabinet members arrived on the field, President Prabowo Subianto was the first to arrive. President Prabowo was giving an example as a disciplined leader.”
Images on social media showed Prabowo and his ministers dressed in camouflage military gear.
“We must move in sync with the same goal. The government does not work alone, we have to work as a team,“ Prabowo told the ministers, according to state news agency Antara.
Erick Thohir, the state-owned enterprises minister and former chairman of Inter Milan football club, posted videos from the academy and the military plane that flew the cabinet to the area.
“Learning to create content from the experts,“ he wrote on Instagram, showing himself laughing with other ministers.
Indonesian celebrity Raffi Ahmad, who was announced as one of Prabowo’s presidential envoys, posted to 76 million followers that he was headed to the military academy where the new president wanted “to create good teamwork”.
Rights advocates have raised concerns that Prabowo and key allies like Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin — also implicated in rights abuses under Suharto — could strengthen the role of the military in the secular democracy of around 280 million.
