Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated Sunday as Indonesia’s president after an eight-month transition following a convincing election win, claiming a first-round victory over two rivals in February.
He was officially sworn in as the new leader of parliament, crowning his decades-long battle to win high office in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
The 73-year-old has undergone a remarkable transformation, from being a former military commander facing unproven allegations of rights abuses to sweeping the polls and leading the country of 280 million people.
After taking oath as the eighth president of the world’s third-largest democracy, Prabowo gave a fiery speech to lawmakers.
The ex-military commander, who unsuccessfully ran for the presidency twice before, said he would be president for all Indonesians and challenged the nation to help him face the country’s problems.
“We must always realise that a free nation is where the people are free,” Prabowo said, at times raising his voice.
“They must be freed of fear, poverty, hunger, ignorance, oppression, suffering,” he said.
In a wide-ranging speech about an hour, Prabowo said self-sufficiency for food was possible within five years, while also pledging to become self-sufficient in energy.
The new president vowed to eradicate corruption and said that while he wanted to live in a democracy, it must be “polite”.
“A difference of opinion must come without enmity … fighting without hating,” he said.
Prabowo also touched on foreign policy during his speech, saying Indonesia was non-aligned on the global stage, but that he stood in support of the Palestinian people and said Jakarta was ready to send more aid to Gaza.
He was joined in the swearing-in ceremony by his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 37, the eldest son of outgoing president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
After his speech, Prabowo wore a baseball cap and waved through a car sunroof as he made his way to the presidential palace, passing thousands of flag-waving supporters thronging Jakarta’s streets in a festival-like atmosphere.
Flower boards outside the palace either congratulated Prabowo and Gibran or thanked Jokowi for his decade of service.
