www.abc.net. au Broadcast: 31/03/2009 The Farmer Wants a Country Reporter: Geoff Thompson
He’ll have you believe he’s a quiet goat farmer and a keen horseman who just happens to think he might make an ideal Indonesian President one day. But looks can be deceiving and there’s little doubt Prabowo Subianto’s pursuit of Indonesia’s top job will be ruthlessly efficient and purposeful. After all this one-time General used to head up Kopassus - the notorious special forces unit accused of kidnapping and torturing student activists in 1998, and of orchestrating atrocities in East Timor. Eleven years ago, he was one of Indonesia’s most powerful men. Many though came to suspect he was plotting a coup. In a stunning fall from grace he was kicked out of the military - ostensibly for his role in human rights abuses - and he left the country in disgrace. Now – in a stunning reinvention and a celebrated return to the spotlight - he’s back crowd surfing a growing legion of supporters and with the eager support of his billionaire brother, planning a tilt at the country’s top job. In little more than a year they have created a new party, the Great Indonesia Movement (or Gerindra) and grown the membership to more than ten million. Their campaign promotes Prabowo as a champion of the rural poor; a strong and decisive leader out to modernise the economy and fight poverty. As an agent of change, he even compares himself to Barack Obama. Prabowo is already well acquainted with the trappings of power. He was once married to the daughter of the autocratic President Suharto, who led Indonesia for more than 30 years. He also comes from an aristocratic Javanese family known as ‘the Kennedys of Indonesia’. A Prabowo Presidency fills some with dread especially the families of some of his alleged victims. But there are some very strange twists to this tale as Thompson reveals. Transcript THOMPSON: Javanese tradition holds that when the warrior is done with fighting, he must retreat to the mountains and live the life of a monk. But if the warrior ever finds the Kingdom in desperate need again, he must be prepared to rejoin the fray. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘Do I have to go on this political campaign? [laughs] [To horse] You are aristocratic, aren’t you?’ THOMPSON: In recent years, Prabowo Subianto has retreated from public life to his mountain farm where he trains horses and raises goats. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘Some of my rivals they make fun of me. He was a general, now he’s a goat general. But for me it’s a compliment. I take it as a compliment you know?’ THOMPSON: Prabowo Subianto wasn’t just a general, he once headed the infamous Kopassus Special Forces. His military stature made him one of the most powerful men in this sprawling Muslim nation. Some thought too powerful and too dangerous, maybe he’d take things into his own hands. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘I commanded 34 battalions. I was the commander of the Strategic Reserves. If I wanted to have coup d’etat, do you think anybody could have stopped me, you know? I was a combat general you know, I was not a desk general you know. Many of my colleagues, what do you call it? Accused me of not being brave enough. You know some of my foreign friends, foreign generals, when I stepped down they said Prabowo you’re stupid! Why didn’t you take over? And I said no, no I believe in Constitution you know and I want to uphold my Constitution. That’s my oath. Come on Prabowo once you’re in power write your own Constitution.’ [On farm with goats] ‘I love these animals.’ THOMPSON: Perhaps it was an opportunity missed….. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: [On farm with goats] ‘They’re my pride and joy!’ THOMPSON: ….because Prabowo Subianto has had to spend quite some time wandering in the wilderness before he could possibly contemplate another tilt at Indonesia’s top job. Considering the skeletons in his closet, it’s been an extraordinary reinvention. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘People say that I’m thirsty for power. I think you can see why that’s not really true.’ THOMPSON: You could’ve fooled millions of Indonesia’s voters. Prabowo is spending big to win them over, and there’s plenty to spend. Here’s a hint – this private jet comes courtesy of his brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo – a billionaire. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘He’s the brains behind my campaign actually. Not only in a financial way, because he’s an entrepreneur, I think his gut instincts are also very good. Maybe I’m too old-fashioned you know? For instance to be very frank, I’m not good at dealing with the press, with you guys. In fact I’m very allergic to you guys actually, you know? He’s the one who convinced me, okay?’ HASHIM DJOJOHADIKUSUMO: ‘My brother and I we both have aristocratic titles, but that being said, we’re both very conscious of social justice. One of the things I always remember our grandfather saying, you know there’s a term in French, nobless oblige…. nobless oblige – with one’s status comes responsibility. And my brother feels that and so do I. You know that’s something we inherited from our grandfather and the family history.’ THOMPSON: He may now be divorced from Suharto’s daughter, Titiek, but as a member of one of Java’s aristocratic families once dubbed ‘The Kennedy’s of Indonesia’, Prabowo’s blood still runs blue. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘The people know that this is a part of our sense of responsibility. I think if you see John F Kennedy, Robert F Kennedy, they come also from a very rich family but they were always fighting for the poor of America, the underprivileged, the blacks. I think that’s what is also getting me a lot of support. They know I don’t need to have this because I’ve used this jet to go to a casino somewhere you know? But we are fighting for a lot of people.’ THOMPSON: The endorsement of Suharto’s brother, a private jet and a big bank balance are invaluable when you’re trying to convince tens of millions of Indonesian voters that you‘re not the same Prabowo Subianto sacked for allowing kidnap and torture more than a decade ago. Even when your high-flying campaign for parliamentary elections takes you back to former President Suharto’s birthplace and into a hall resounding with wails of pain and agony. And it’s not for the squeamish, a mass circumcision, a traditional family community event to help poor families fulfil their Islamic obligations. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘I have some real ideas on how to turn this country around from being a second rate, third rate country that’s always begging for foreign aid, amidst wealth. You know we are a very wealthy country but we don’t seem to be able to get our act together. Our people are sentenced to be poor - our economic model, our economic system actually in essence perpetuates an oligarchy. Only a few hundred families enjoy a comfortable and wealthy life. The masses of people you see yourself every day, they are living very difficult lives.’ THOMPSON: It’s a cornerstone of the Prabowo platform. He’s standing as a champion of the rural poor. As the farmer who wants the presidency, it’s not a big stretch, but will he be able to dust over the tracks that lead all the way back to his days heading the Special Forces. Back in 1998 Indonesia was in turmoil. For three decades, President Suharto had tolerated no opposition. Now he was losing his hold on power. The military tried to crush the agitators. Troops, under Prabowo’s command, kidnapped and tortured nine democracy activists. During protests, Faisol Reza was followed, captured and tortured for three days. FAISOL REZA: ‘I was beaten… electric shocks… hung… my skin was burnt with cigarettes. I was given shocks all over my body… my head, for instance. And they put four electric tools on four of my joints and lit them all up at the same time. I was thrown into the air and I fell down and broke the chair.’ THOMPSON: Now running for a seat in Indonesia’s Parliament himself, Faisol Reza says he could not live with a Prabowo presidency. FAISOL REZA: ‘It would feel like the last days of when I was kidnapped, when there was a fine line between life and death. And if he’s President, it’s better that I leave the country.’ PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘I was a serving officer. Circumstances were different. Under a different circumstance, maybe I would have gotten a medal. Some of the operations we prevented bombings – some of these guys they assembled bombs.’ THOMPSON: The nine activists known to have been kidnapped by Prabowo’s men all lived to tell the tale. Thirteen others never came home. Nur Hasanah’s son, Yadin Muhidin, is one of them. NUR HASANAH: ‘He was my only son. He was so kind… a good boy. It breaks my heart to lose him. To this day I can’t forget him. He was a good son.’ THOMPSON: ‘You’ve heard of Pak Prabowo. How do you feel about him regarding this matter?’ NUR HASANAH: ‘He did the kidnapping of those nine people but he never admitted to the other thirteen people. That’s not possible. I will continually demand justice from him. He did this kidnapping.’ THOMPSON: The kidnappings would prove to be Prabowo’s undoing. A military tribunal including Indonesia’s current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono found him guilty of exceeding his orders and kicked him out of the army. Against the background of the ‘war on terror’ Prabowo now says one regime’s kidnapping is another’s extraordinary rendition. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘For instance perhaps what is called preventive detention would be in the end spinned as kidnapping and abduction you know? But I faced the tribunal you know and it so happens that many of those who are purported to be kidnapped by my soldiers, they are now fighting to make me President.’ THOMPSON: In a peculiar twist, two of the nine men abducted and tortured by Prabowo’s troops are now candidates for his Party, another is a media advisor. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘That’s why I asked some Americans, do you think somebody who got out of Abu Ghraib is going to fight for the United States? Somebody who comes out of Guantanamo is going to fight for United States? Well these guys they are working to make me President of the Republic of Indonesia, you know. Why don’t you go and ask them? DESMOND JUAIDI MAHESA: ‘They touched every inch of my body because they wanted to put fear into me. They touched me everywhere. When I was given electric shocks I felt different sensations – one that shocked me… one that weakened me… and afterwards there was blood oozing from my pores.’ THOMPSON: Candidate Desmond Mahesa not only forgives but celebrates his former tormentor. DESMOND JUAIDI MAHESA: ‘I admire Prabowo because he admitted that if he is guilty, he would be responsible for his actions. I hope his loss, when he was part of the old regime, has made him wiser so if he becomes President he’ll have vigilance and he won’t commit any more cruelties like he did in the past.’ HASHIM DJOJOHADIKUSUMO: ‘People who talk about my brother’s human rights record, they forget to ask why did these so called activists who were kidnapped, why are they alive today. You know it would have been much more convenient for my brother to have eliminated them. And the reason why he got into trouble was because they survived. Nine of the activists survived and that’s how he got into trouble. I mean they were the ones who were used as witnesses to prosecute my brother during that time. I think the easiest course would have been for him to eliminate them and the fact that he did not eliminate them is I think testimony of the fact that he’s not the human rights violator that people say he is.’ THOMPSON: Following his tours of duty in East Timor in the 80s and 90s, Prabowo’s been accused of being involved in numerous atrocities. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘I’ve been accused of ordering my soldiers to rape women. I’ve been accused of surrounding the state palace. I’ve been accused of bombing churches. I’ve been accused of bombing mosques. You know I mean…’. THOMPSON: ‘So which ones are true?’ PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘None of them are true. It’s a black campaign. It’s character assassination. If you want to eliminate somebody, you have to destroy him. Sometimes physically, sometimes by reputation you know? I don’t know, maybe people were afraid of me.’ THOMPSON: Many people were afraid of Prabowo and they loathed and feared the brutal militias he established and encouraged. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘The concept of militia, the concept of local self defence forces is an age old concept. That’s a part of the Indonesian national defence concept, and every counter insurgency you always work with the local people everywhere. That’s what the Americans found out in Iraq. They have to work with local militias you see. So it’s not me creating, it was part of our national doctrine.’ THOMPSON: The claims about his activities in East Timor are many but none have been fashioned into hard evidence and then criminal charges and made to stick. But once again we find an extraordinary twist of the foe becoming the family, literally. Joao Mota is from East Timor. He isn’t fearful of Prabowo, rather he likens him to a brother. Mota was one of seven children Prabowo fostered during his years as a soldier in East Timor. JOAO MOTA: ‘He came to us not like a soldier and give us an order. He came to us like a family. He shared with the family and he called my mother his mama.’ THOMPSON: Joao was just six when he first met the then Kopassus Special Forces commander in Dili. Prabowo’s looked out for him ever since. JOAO MOTA: He treats me like a brother, more than a friend I think. And he’ll just look after me sometimes. He keeps his soldiers doing their job. There is a very basic rule for the soldiers, if you go to the combat field, kill or be killed. And this is something that is really natural… soldiers are trained to do that. But outside of the combat field, he’s the kind of person open to everybody. He helps his enemy… also his friends.’ THOMPSON: Prabowo’s attempts to remodel his image are constantly undermined by bonds of loyalty to his military friends. One of his personal aides is Bambang Kristiono, a former Major dismissed and jailed for being a commander of one of Prabowo’s kidnap and torture teams. The Deputy Chairman of his Gerindra Party is former Special Forces Chief, Muchdi Purwopranjono who many still believe was involved in the 2004 arsenic poisoning murder of top human rights activist Munir Thalib on a Garuda jet to Amsterdam. Munir’s organisation, KONTRAS, was founded to investigate the kidnappings and disappearances. Muchdi was cleared by a court despite the existence of phone records of 41 calls made at the time of the murder between him and the man now serving twenty years for the crime. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘What can we do? I mean we have a legal process as in all other countries you know and he’s been through it. Under a fair scrutiny, I think a very intensive scrutiny by all the press. Let it stand on the legal basis and the legal examination and the legal process. That’s what I say.’ THOMPSON: Given his associations and unsavoury background, the propulsion of Prabowo the politician, is to an outsider astonishing. In just twelve months he and his brother have created a new party, the Great Indonesian Movement. Gerindra now boasts more than ten million members and everyone receives a year’s worth of accident and life insurance. The billionaire’s heirs, a son and daughter, are also working for the campaign. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: [Addressing crowd] ‘Ten years after reform we’re seeing a phenomenon I call Indonesia paradox – a country endowed with resources so rich, but where the people remain poor.’ THOMPSON: An expensive TV advertising blitz is providing Prabowo with unparalleled exposure. He presents himself as a nationalist and market-friendly socialist with grand government plans to reinvigorate Indonesia’s rural heartlands. Prabowo even compares himself to Barack Obama. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘I think the reasoning was I am also an unlikely candidate. People always say I don’t have a chance, but I’m fighting for change. I’m fighting for real change and I offer you know a real change from policies. I am the only candidate in Indonesia that says we need to change the economic system.’ THOMPSON: He may find parallels with the new American President, but it’s a clumsy contrast. As a violator of human rights, this potential Indonesian President is barred from entering the United States. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘God is my witness, history is my witness, my former soldiers are my witnesses, 11.2 million members of Gerindra - they would never follow somebody who is a criminal. So I would love to visit United States. I consider myself for many, many years a friend of the United States so I think in time, things will sort themselves out.’ THOMPSON: From his Sukarno-era safari suits to his Suharto family past, Prabowo’s underlying message is that Indonesia will never flourish without a decisive leader like him. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: ‘That is why I believe in democracy you know? Cause I experienced an authoritarian regime. I was part of it. I think all people want strong leadership, decisive leadership but that does not mean… and I don’t think we can ever go back to authoritarian ways. THOMPSON: Whatever the west and human rights activists think of Prabowo, millions of Indonesians now consider him a credible contender for the country’s top job. In just over a week, they will judge Prabowo’s prance across the national stage when they cast their votes in the national parliamentary elections. The results on April the 9th, will determine whether this dark horse stands a chance in the Presidential race. Satrio Arismunandar Executive Producer News Division, Trans TV, Lantai 3 Jl. Kapten P. Tendean Kav. 12 - 14 A, Jakarta 12790 Phone: 7917-7000, 7918-4544 ext. 4034, Fax: 79184558, 79184627 http://satrioarismunandar6.blogspot.com http://satrioarismunandar.multiply.com Verba volant scripta manent... (yang terucap akan lenyap, yang tertulis akan abadi...) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
