Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has just marked 100 days in office. Here's what he's been up to

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s decision to release the remaining Bali Nine drug smugglers “before Christmas” late last year was a surprise political move. Despite the lack of supporting prisoner exchange laws, the new leader successfully accomplished this.

But this is just one of a series of surprising moves in the first 100 days of the Southeast Asian nation’s most influential president. He reversed Indonesia’s traditional avoidance of bloc politics by having the country join the BRICS group, led by China and seen as a counterweight to Western-dominated organizations. In addition, he escalated a dispute with Apple over the sale of its latest iPhones in Indonesia.

At the same time, Prabowo has launched an ambitious plan to tackle malnutrition by providing more than 80 million free meals daily. “Prabowo is a more complex person, he is not one-dimensional,” said former government advisor Dewi Fortuna Anwar. “He is very pragmatic, he believes the state must be strong, and the people must be strong.”

Prabowo, as he is commonly known by his first name, is not surprisingly eager to get things done. He had almost 20 years to think about what he would do in office, having run for president for nearly two decades before finally winning last year’s election. However, the pace of change has surprised even seasoned observers, who believe the former military general is eager to show the world that he is his own man.

This is particularly important after he reconciled with his old rival, former President Joko Widodo (commonly known as Jokowi), and rode on the back of the latter’s popularity to secure the presidency. Having pledged to continue the policies of his predecessor and choosing Jokowi’s son as his running mate, Prabowo is now seeking to remove the potential shadow of the former president. “As president, Prabowo needs a clear position that he is independent, even if he agrees with Jokowi, he will try a different approach,” said Aditya Perdana, an associate professor at the University of Indonesia.

The release of the remaining Bali Nine prisoners in December was not just a friendly gesture towards Australia. Prabowo said he wanted to reduce overcrowding in prisons. He has floated the idea of sending drug possessors to rehabilitation centers rather than jails. In addition, his top legal minister has said the government is considering repatriating Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, the mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings, from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Hambali’s prosecution has been delayed, and previous Indonesian governments have been reluctant to seek his return, as prosecution in a US military court was seen as easier. But the Americans are keen to close the war-on-terror-era prison, and Prabowo’s government is seeking another potential diplomatic deal to resolve the outstanding issue. The move is likely to be controversial as most of the victims of the early 2000s terror attacks, while often targeting bars and hotels frequented by Westerners, were Indonesian. Yet, as with his early repatriation of drug traffickers, there has been little public opposition to the idea of Hambali’s return.

The respected media group Kompass found this week that Prabowo’s approval rating after his first three months in office stood at a remarkable 81%. In December, Prabowo’s government announced that Indonesia would become a full member of BRICS, a group founded 16 years ago by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The bloc is largely led and influenced by China, and some commentators saw Indonesia’s accession as a sign of taking sides.

But Prabowo and his ministers have repeatedly stressed a foreign policy position of “a thousand friends are too few, one enemy is too many.” Government members emphasize that it is about Indonesia having its voice heard in as many global forums as possible. Some analysts believe that the expansion of the group, including countries such as Ethiopia, Egypt, and the UAE, has tempered the perception that it is a Chinese and Russian initiative to challenge Western influence, making it diplomatically easier for Jakarta to join. “BRICS is one of many organizations that Indonesia seeks to join,” noted Ms. Anwar, who also mentioned Indonesia is also bidding to become a member of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Nevertheless, China was the first country Prabowo visited last year, a considerable detour on his way to a regional summit in Peru. But to show his desire to balance major powers, he subsequently flew to Washington to meet then-President Joe Biden. “We will see a more assertive posture in Indonesian foreign policy, and that is a marked contrast with the Jokowi era,” said Ms. Anwar.

Domestically, the most eye-catching initiative in the early months has been the roll-out of free lunch programs for school children and pregnant women. While only a small percentage of the 83 million people who should be receiving daily nutrition supplements have benefited so far, the program is very popular. But it has also shown the limits of Prabowo’s capacity. With a budget of $1.50 per meal, the government has had to reduce it to $1.00. The program has added $7 billion in new spending to the national budget this year alone, and it is projected to increase to around $40 billion annually as the program expands.

To make matters worse, Prabowo intervened at the last minute on New Year’s Eve to cut a planned increase in a sales tax-like levy, removing around $7 billion in annual revenue from the budget. It was a popular but costly move. Some public policy analysts say the country simply cannot afford the free lunch program. “There is no new revenue source and [the $40 billion] in the budget is not enough,” said Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara, an analyst at the Center of Economic and Law Studies in Jakarta.

If there is one diplomatic area where Prabowo doesn’t mind picking a fight, it is the dispute with Europe over palm oil. Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s largest exporters of palm oil, have long been at odds with the EU over regulations designed to monitor and restrict the clearing of native forest land in both countries. As a major importer of palm oil, the EU has leverage, but during his campaign, Prabowo spoke at length about economic nationalism and foreigners trying to get their hands on Indonesia’s resources.

So, it is not surprising that as president, he is now calling for a massive expansion of palm oil plantations, complaining about negative perceptions of palm oil, and arguing that “palm trees are also trees.” “So, we should massively expand our palm oil plantations, and I hereby order the governors, regents, and all law enforcement to protect existing palm oil plantations. They are national assets,” he said earlier this month. Not afraid of setting grand plans, Prabowo is also championing energy efficiency, promising to end oil imports within five years, and to grow the economy at an annual GDP rate of 8%. Both are seen as distant goals. “The 8% target is a fantasy, it’s more like a political promise,” said Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara.

But of all the issues that the Indonesian leader needs to address, tackling endemic corruption is one of the biggest challenges. On this front, Prabowo has already come under pressure for suggesting an amnesty for officials, politicians, and business people who plunder government funds. “Hey, you corruptors, or those who feel they have stolen the people’s money, if you return what you stole, we might forgive you. But please return it,” he said in a speech in December.

The backlash was swift, and soon after, he was suggesting 50-year prison terms for those accused of stealing from the state. But early signs are not promising. The country’s anti-corruption commission has been investigating senior figures from PDI-P, the main opposition party outside of Prabowo’s parliamentary super-coalition. Critics say this indicates that the supposedly independent body is being politicized rather than genuinely working to eliminate corruption.