Who is Prabowo Subianto, the former general who becomes Indonesia’s new president?

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A wealthy ex-general with ties to both Indonesia’s popular outgoing president and the country’s dictatorial past will be inaugurated as its leader Sunday. He has promised to continue his predecessor’s widely popular policies, but his human rights record has activists, and some analysts, concerned about the future of Indonesia’s democracy.

At the election in February, Prabowo Subianto, 73, presented himself as heir to the immensely popular President Joko Widodo, the first Indonesian president to emerge from outside the political and military elite. Subianto, who was then defense minister, vowed to continue the modernization agenda that has brought rapid growth and vaulted Indonesia into the ranks of middle-income countries.

In a speech last month, Subianto, who’s also the chair of the Gerindra Party, reminded party members to always remain loyal to the nation, not to him. He also vowed his unwavering commitment to defend the people, even at the cost of his life.

“Once you smell I’m on the wrong path, please leave me,” Subianto said, “My life, my oath … I want to die for the truth, I want to die defending my people, I want to die defending the poor, I want to die defending the honor of the Indonesian nation. I have no doubt.”

But Subianto will enter office with unresolved questions about the costs of rapid growth for the environment and traditional communities, as well as his own links to torture, disappearances and other human rights abuses in the final years of the brutal Suharto dictatorship, which he served as a lieutenant general.

Other than promising continuity, Subianto has laid out few concrete plans, leaving observers uncertain about what his election will mean for the country’s economy and