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Prabowo seeks to dispel long shadow of alleged rights abuse
Recent events are pointing to a general trend of former student activists rallying around the Gerindra chair and presumptive nominee, but experts say this may not be enough to finally dispel the rights abuse allegations that have dogged Prabowo throughout his political career.
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Chairman of Gerindra party, Prabowo Subianto, waves to the press while arriving at the State Palace, Jakarta on Oct. 21, 2019. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
Presumptive nominee Prabowo Subianto is looking to rid himself of the accusations of human rights violations, which were leveled against him at the end of the New Order regime and have haunted his political career since.
On Wednesday, the retired Army general hosted a meeting with the ‘98 Brotherhood, a group of former pro-democracy activists, at his private residence on Jl. Kertanegara in South Jakarta. After a 45-minute talk held behind closed doors, the group emerged to declare its support for Prabowo’s 2024 presidential bid.
“In our meeting with Pak Prabowo, we no longer talked about the past, we talked about the future. We believe we need to leave the past behind so we can build our future,” said Wahab Talaohu, who heads the group.
“We will fight hard and try our best to win the hearts of the people so they will choose Prabowo Subianto,” he added.
Wahab told The Jakarta Post recently that the ‘98 Brotherhood was formed specifically to support Prabowo’s election campaign.
The Brotherhood had nearly 100 members, many of whom were founders or former members of student organizations that rallied against former president Soeharto and his New Order regime in May 1998.
Read also: ProJo hints support for Prabowo ahead of declaration
