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View all search resultsPrabowo’s G20 absence
Prabowo skipped the G20 summit, even though the gathering of the world’s 20 largest economies would have marked the culmination of his global diplomacy this year.
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Leaders attend a plenary session on the opening day of the G20 leaders' summit on Nov. 22 at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Reuters/Pool/Thomas Mukoya)
President Prabowo Subianto’s surprising absence from the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, over the weekend is truly regrettable. This sentiment does not stem from any doubt regarding the capacity of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who attended the summit on Prabowo’s behalf, but rather because this gathering of the world’s 20 largest economies would have been the culmination of the President's global diplomacy for the year.
According to Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, the President could not travel to South Africa for the Nov. 22-23 gathering due to an urgent domestic schedule requiring his personal attention. But to international observers, the explanation appears less a substantive reason than a convenient diplomatic excuse.
It is plausible that Prabowo intentionally assigned his deputy to this key global forum for “diplomatic grooming,” allowing him to delegate more high-level tasks to Gibran should important domestic issues arise in the future. The South African trip is only Gibran’s second overseas visit so far.
Since assuming office in October of last year, the President has been active on the world stage, attending the BRICS summit in July, the United Nations General Assembly in September, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in late October, among other multilateral forums.
This track record makes his absence from the G20 all the more conspicuous. It would be understandable if South African President Cyril Ramaphosa were disappointed by Prabowo’s absence, particularly as Ramaphosa personally invited him to the summit during a visit to Jakarta last month.
The theme for this year’s summit, “Solidarity, equality, sustainability,” emphasized priorities centered on disaster resilience, debt relief, climate finance and a just energy transition, issues deeply relevant to Indonesia, which hosted the summit in 2022.
Accompanied by senior advisors, Gibran delivered a poignant speech in the summit, noting that the world now faces not only natural disasters but also human-made catastrophes.
