Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman, and former four-star

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

general who is serving as the eighth and current

president of Indonesia The president of the Republic of Indonesia () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president is the leader of the executive branch of the Indonesian government and the commander-in-chief of the ...

since 2024. He was previously the 26th

minister of defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

under president

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician, engineer, and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic ...

from 2019 to 2024. Prabowo is Indonesia's third president to have a military background after

Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...

and

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to as SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired Indonesian Army, army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014 and the second president of Ind ...

and is the oldest first-term president in Indonesian history. Prabowo is the first Indonesian president to have a noble background. He is the 8th descendant of the Sultan Agung of Mataram lineage and the

Yogyakarta Sultanate The Sultanate of Yogyakarta, officially the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat ( ; ), is a Javanese monarchy in Yogyakarta Special Region, in the Republic of Indonesia. The current head of the sultanate is Hamengkubuwono X. Yogyakart ...

, Sultan Hamengkubuwono (HB) I.

Raden is a Japanese termRaden.

Raden Mas Margono Djojohadikusumo (Prabowo's grandfather). Prabowo Subianto graduated from the

Indonesian Military Academy The Military Academy ( or ) is a service academy of the Indonesian Army, part of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Academy (). Founded on the early stages of the Indonesian Revolutionary War and located in the city of Magelang in Central J ...

(Akademi Militer Nasional) in 1970 and primarily served in the Special Forces (

Kopassus The Kopassus (, Special Forces Command) is an Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as Direct action (military), direct action, unconventional warfare, sabot ...

) until he was appointed to lead the Strategic Reserves Command (

Kostrad The Army Strategic Reserve Command (; abbreviated Kostrad) is a combined-arms formation of the Indonesian Army. Kostrad is a Corps level command which has up to 35,000 troops. It also supervises operational readiness among all commands and con ...

) in 1998. Later that same year, he was discharged from the military and subsequently banned from entering the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for allegedly committing human rights abuses. In early 2008, Prabowo's inner circle established the

Gerindra Party The Great Indonesia Movement Party (), better known as the Gerindra Party, is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in Indonesia. Since 2014, it has been the third-largest party in the House of Representatives (DPR), having won 86 s ...

. In the 2009 presidential election, he ran unsuccessfully for the vice presidency as

Megawati Sukarnoputri Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri (; born 23 January 1947) is an Indonesian politician who served as the fifth president of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004 and the eighth vice president under President Abdurrahman Wahid from 1999 to 200 ...

's running mate. He contested the 2014 presidential election and was defeated by Jakarta governor

, which he initially disputed. He made another unsuccessful run for the presidency in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

against Joko Widodo, with

Sandiaga Uno Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno (born 28 June 1969) is an Indonesian businessman, investor and politician who served as Ministry of Tourism (Indonesia), Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy from 2020 to 2024. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Govern ...

as his running mate and with the support of Gerindra, the

Prosperous Justice Party The Prosperous Justice Party (, sometimes called the Justice and Prosperity Party, Indonesian name literally translated "Party of Secure/Peaceful Justice"), frequently abbreviated to PKS, and formerly the Justice Party (, PK), is an Islamism, Isl ...

(PKS), the

National Mandate Party The National Mandate Party (), frequently abbreviated to PAN, is a non-sectarian, religion-basedAl-Hamdi, Ridho (2017). ''Moving towards a Normalised Path: Political Islam in Contemporary Indonesia''. Jurnal Studi Pemerintahan (Journal of Governme ...

(PAN), the Democratic Party (Demokrat), and Berkarya Party. His refusal to accept the result saw his followers stage protests that sparked riots in Jakarta. However, after a heated contest, Prabowo Subianto joined Joko Widodo's cabinet as his minister of defense for the 2019 to 2024 period. On 10 October 2021, Gerindra announced Prabowo as their candidate in the

2024 Indonesian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Indonesia on 14 February 2024 with defence minister and former general Prabowo Subianto contesting the elections against the former governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan and the former governor of Central Java, G ...

. On 12 August 2022, Prabowo announced that he accepted Gerindra's nomination. Prabowo declared victory in the election on 14 February, as early unofficial polling showed him with a lead in the first round of voting. On 20 March, the General Election Commission (KPU) certified the results and declared him as the

president-elect An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Un ...

of Indonesia. The

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

(MK) confirmed his status on 22 April 2024. Prabowo was sworn in as the 8th president of Indonesia on 20 October 2024.

Early life and family

Prabowo's father, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo (1917–2001), was originally from Gombong, Kebumen. He was an economist who served as former President

Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

's minister for the economy and

's minister for research and technology. Sumitro named Prabowo after his own younger brother who was killed in an incident against Japanese forces in Lengkong, Tangerang during the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during A ...

.Friend (2003), p. 323 Prabowo's mother, Dora Marie Sigar (1919–2008), was a Protestant Christian of Minahasan and German descent, who originated from the Sigar-Maengkom family in Langowan,

North Sulawesi North Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is mainly located on the Minahasa Peninsula of the island of Sulawesi, south of the Philippines and southeast of Sabah, Malaysia, but also includes various small archipel ...

. Her father was a member of the Volksraad of the Dutch East Indies. They were married in Matraman,

East Jakarta East Jakarta (; ), abbreviated as Jaktim, is the largest of the five administrative cities (''kota administrasi'') which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia, with a land area of 188.03 km2 (72.6 sq.miles). It had a population ...

. Prabowo Subianto has two older sisters, Bianti Djojohadikusumo, who was born in 1946 and Maryani Djojohadikusumo, who was born in 1948. His only brother,

Hashim Djojohadikusumo Hashim Sujono Djojohadikusumo (born 5 June 1953) is an Indonesian entrepreneur and politician who is the younger brother of Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto. In 2014, he was considered a billionaire. As of December 2020, Forbes estimates his ...

, was born in 1953. Prabowo's eldest sister, Bianti, is married to J. Soedradjad Djiwandono, Governor of Bank Indonesia from 1993 until 1998, whilst her sister, Maryani, was married to a French expatriate entrepreneur, Didier Lemaistre who died in 2018. Prabowo's brother, Hashim, is one of the wealthiest businessmen in Indonesia with assets across the globe from Indonesia to Europe and North America. Due to his father's political exile borne from differences with Sukarno in the 1960s, they lived in self-exile, notably in countries such as Switzerland, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. Henceforth, Prabowo and his siblings have a cosmopolitan background. During his high school years, he studied at

Victoria Institution The Victoria Institution is the oldest secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is a memorial school, so-called because it was partly funded by public subscription intended for the erection of a permanent memorial to commemorate the Golden ...

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Malaysia. Between 1966 and 1968, the family lived in London, where Prabowo attended and graduated from the American School. Sumitro subsequently encouraged his son to attend a military academy. According to peers and observers, Prabowo was talented with a passion for stratagems and had an appetite for political power. Sumitro himself came from an elite background. His father, Margono Djojohadikusumo, was the founder of the country's first state bank

Bank Negara Indonesia Bank Negara Indonesia ( 'State Bank of Indonesia', formerly Bank Negara Indonesia 1946, 'State Bank of Indonesia 1946') is an Indonesian state-owned bank. It has branches primarily in Indonesia, but it can also found in Seoul, Singapore, Hong Ko ...

(BNI), the first leader of Indonesia's provisional Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), and a member of the

Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence The Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (, abbreviated as BPUPK; , Hepburn: , Nihon-shiki / Kunrei-shiki: ), sometimes referred to, but better known locally, as the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Indo ...

(BPUPK) that drafted the steps for Indonesia's independence. With the pedigrees of his father and grandfather, Prabowo is the third generation of a family that has served high positions in Indonesia since its establishment in 1945. Prabowo and Titiek have a son, Didit Hediprasetyo, who lived in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

before settling in Paris to pursue a career in fashion design. While his son has shown little interest in politics, Prabowo Subianto is uncle to Gerindra politicians Thomas Djiwandono, Budi Djiwandono, Aryo Djojohadikusumo, and Rahayu Djojohadikusumo, who will together continue the Djojohadikusumo political lineage.

Military career

Military academy and service

Prabowo Subianto enrolled in the

() in

Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java, the Central Java Province of Indonesia that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a Subdivi ...

in 1970. He graduated in 1974 with others who would gain senior leadership positions, such as

. In 1976, Prabowo Subianto served in the

Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( (TNI-AD), ) is the army, land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,400 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its roots in 1945 when the (TKR) "People's Se ...

Special Forces Command (

) and was assigned as the commander of Group 1 (Kopassandha), which was one of the Indonesian Army's Nanggala commando units in

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, the former Portuguese territory that Indonesia had invaded the previous year. Prabowo, then 26 years old, was the youngest Nanggala commander. Prabowo led the mission to capture the vice president of Fretilin, who was the first prime minister of

, Nicolau dos Reis Lobato. Guiding Prabowo Subianto was Antonio Lobato – Nicolau's younger brother. On 31 December 1978, Prabowo's company found and fatally shot Nicolau in the stomach as he was being escorted in Maubisse, fifty kilometres south of

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

. In 1981, Captain Inf. Prabowo Subianto with Major Inf. Luhut Binsar Panjaitan was sent by the TNI to attend Anti-terror Training in GSG-9 Germany, and after graduate from the course, TNI forming the first anti-terror unit in Indonesia, the Detasemen 81 Anti Teror under the Kopassus. With Luhut as the detachment commander and Prabowo as the vice-commander. In 1983, it was claimed that Prabowo commanded the special forces responsible for the Kraras massacres in East Timor. The survivors of these massacres were locked up in a concentration camp guarded by Prabowo's men, where many died of starvation and ill-treatment. Prabowo claimed he was nowhere near the Viqueque district when the massacre happened, and neither the UN nor the government of Timor Leste have ever proffered charges of human rights violations against him. Jose Manuel Tesoro, writing for Asiaweek in 2000, contacted four separate non-governmental organizations including TAPOL in London; Solidamor in Jakarta; the HAK Foundation, headquartered in Dili; and the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) in New York, and they could not provide any eyewitness reports, transcripts of intercepted communications, leaked papers, or anything that could substantiate Prabowo's involvement. Prabowo in East Timor

In 1985 Prabowo Subianto attended the Advanced Infantry Officers Course at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

, in the United States for commando training. In the early 1990s, as the commander of Kopassus Group 3, the now Major General Prabowo attempted to crush the

ese independence movement by using irregular troops (hooded "ninja" gangs dressed in black and operating at night) and, in main towns and villages, militias trained and directed by Kopassus commanders. Human rights abuses rose. The Army's 1997 campaign was called Operation Eradicate. Letjen Prabowo Subianto

In 1996, Prabowo Subianto led Operation Mapenduma in the mountainous terrain of Papua. The goal of the operation was the release of 11 scientific researchers who had been taken hostage by the Free Papua Movement (OPM). The researchers were five Indonesians, four Britons, one Dutchman and his pregnant German wife. Two of the Indonesian male hostages were killed shortly before the rescue operation. The mission involved covert support from British Military Attaché and SAS veteran Colonel Ivor Helberg. Following the hostage transfer, Kopassus under Prabowo Subianto began a reprisal campaign against villages perceived to support OPM, in one incident at Geselema village, attacking the villagers with a military helicopter disguised as a

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

helicopter. On 20 March 1998, Prabowo Subianto was appointed head of the 27,000-strong Army Strategic Reserve Command (

), that Suharto had commanded in 1965. During his military career, he received the nicknames "08" and "Pandu" () from the Kopassus and the Kostrad, respectively.

Role in the fall of Suharto

Less than three months after his appointment as head of Kostrad, on the first day of the May 1998 riots, Prabowo Subianto urged the commander of the

Indonesian National Armed Forces The Indonesian National Armed Forces (; abbreviated as TNI) are the military forces of the Republic of Indonesia. It consists of the Indonesian Army, Army (''TNI-AD''), Indonesian Navy, Navy (''TNI-AL''), and Indonesian Air Force, Air Force ('' ...

(ABRI), General

Wiranto Wiranto (born 4 April 1947) is an Indonesian politician and retired army general, who is serving as the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council, since December 2019. Previously, he was the Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces from Febr ...

, to let him bring his Strategic Reserve units from outside Jakarta into the city to help restore order. Hundreds of men trained by Kopassus (Prabowo's former command) were flown from

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

in chartered planes, and then on to Jakarta by train.Friend (2003), p. 331 Prabowo Subianto publicly urged Indonesians to join him to fight "traitors to the nation".Friend (2003), p. 315 On the morning of 14 May, Kopassus troops escorted young thugs from

Lampung Lampung, officially the Province of Lampung (; ), is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. It has a short border with the province of Bengkulu to the northwest, and a longer border with the provi ...

in southern Sumatera into the capital. Thus Prabowo Subianto was accused of using his contacts in his former command to import and create trouble, while Wiranto had declined to give Prabowo's current command, Kostrad, permission to quell the existing trouble, in line with classic Javanese tactic to stir chaos to discredit a rival and/or seize power. Troops under Prabowo's command kidnapped and tortured at least nine democracy activists in the months before the May 1998 riots. In one testimony from Andi Arief, a former detainee told of being tortured for days in an unidentified location, allegedly a military camp where most of their time was spent blindfolded, while being forced to answer repeated questions, mainly concerning their political activities. The abuse included being punched, terrorised physically and mentally, and given electric shocks. Later, in 2009, two of the nine men were candidates for

Gerindra The Great Indonesia Movement Party (), better known as the Gerindra Party, is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in Indonesia. Since 2014, it has been the third-largest party in the House of Representatives (DPR), having won 86 s ...

, Prabowo's political party, and another served as his media adviser. By 2024, six out of the nine kidnapped (including Arief) have either worked for Prabowo, or backed him for the presidency. Prabowo Subianto was also suspected of organising the kidnappings of another 13 activists (all of whom remain "missing") between February 1997 and May 1998. Later investigations into the May riots revealed that violence in Jakarta was the result of an internal struggle within the military elite to become Suharto's successor. Many believed Prabowo Subianto, as Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) commander, sought to become his father-in-law's successor and coveted the commander of the Armed Forces position held by General Wiranto, who was favoured to succeed Suharto. Together with Operations Commander for Greater Jakarta (, Pangkoops Jaya) Major General Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Prabowo Subianto aimed to terrorise opponents of the government and to show that Wiranto was "an incompetent commander who could not control disorder". During August and September, the fact-finding team interviewed Prabowo Subianto, Sjafrie, and other military commanders regarding their movements during the Jakarta riots. Prabowo Subianto asserted that he was unsure of the precise movements of military forces in the capital and deferred to Sjafrie. In its final report, the fact-finding team suspected that, on the night of 14 May, Prabowo Subianto met with several Armed Forces and prominent civilian figures at the Kostrad headquarters to discuss organization of the violence. However, this was later refuted by several people who attended the meeting, including prominent human rights lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution and Joint Fact-Finding Team member, Bambang Widjojanto. Further testimonies by Prabowo Subianto in the years following the investigation contradicted the team's report and led to scepticism of the team's allegations.

Dismissal from the military

On 21 May 1998, Suharto announced his resignation from the presidency and Vice President

B. J. Habibie Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (; 25 June 1936 – 11 September 2019) was an Indonesian politician, engineer and scientist who served as the third president of Indonesia from 1998 to 1999. Less than three months after his inauguration as the seventh ...

took over as president. On the afternoon following Habibie's inauguration as president, Prabowo Subianto demanded of Habibie that he be put in charge of the army in place of Wiranto. However, Habibie and Wiranto actually dismissed Prabowo from his position as Kostrad commander, and the following day, announced Wiranto's appointment as minister of defense and security as well as commander of the

, which resulted in Prabowo's dismissal. There were two versions of how this happened: the first version states that a furious Prabowo Subianto went to the Presidential Palace carrying a gun and a truck with his Kostrad troops. Because he was prevented from entering Habibie's office, he went to Suharto, who instead reprimanded him. Meanwhile, another version states that Prabowo was dismissed from his post because he was suspected of carrying out a coup against Habibie. It is said that after Habibie's inauguration, Wiranto reported that there was movement from Kostrad troops appearing around Habibie's residence. Habibie then ordered Prabowo to be dismissed from his post just before sunset in that day. However, Prabowo was later visited by Wiranto at his home on the weekend of 23 or 24 May and then reassigned to a non-combat role at the Armed Forces Command and General Staff College in

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

. Following an ABRI investigation in August 1998, the (Officers Council of Honor) found Prabowo guilty of "misinterpreting orders" in the kidnapping of nine anti-Suharto activists in 1998. Prabowo Subianto acknowledged responsibility for the kidnapping of the nine activists,Friend (2003), p. 347 and was discharged honorably from military service in November. He and Wiranto denied that the discharge was a result of disciplinary action. Later he went into voluntary exile in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

where he knew that country's new young King Abdullah as a fellow commander of special forces. In an interview with ''

Asiaweek ''Asiaweek'' was an English-language news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its 7 December 2001 issue due to a ...

'' magazine in 2000, Prabowo Subianto said "I never threatened Habibie. I was not behind the riots. That is a great lie. I never betrayed Suharto. I never betrayed Habibie. I never betrayed my country. There was a certain group that wanted to make me a scapegoat, maybe to hide their involvement." Human rights groups have long questioned Prabowo's eligibility to run for president, noting that he was discharged from the Army in August 1998 for "misinterpreting orders" in the abduction of the democracy activists. While that was the military's official statement, observers have long believed that it was a coup conspiracy that saw Prabowo, then the commander of the Army Strategic Reserves, given his marching orders. As a 2014 presidential candidate, Prabowo's past came under renewed scrutiny, with many organizations calling for him to step down. On 19 April, he was criticized by a poet made by Fahmi Habcyi which linked him to the disappearance of Widji Thukul and urged him to return Thukul as his wife is devastated hoping for her husband to return. A coalition, which consisted of Imparsial, Kontras, the Setara Institute, and the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), combined under the Civil Society Coalition Against Forgetting, visited the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in Jakarta on 7 May 2014 to urge the commission to re-investigate Prabowo Subianto. A 27 June 2014 report indicated that an investigative journalist, Allan Nairn, had been threatened with arrest "for revealing the former general's role in human rights abuses." During the 2024 presidential debate on 12 December 2023, Prabowo admitted implicitly that he had

Budiman Sudjatmiko Budiman Sudjatmiko (born 10 March 1970 in Majenang, Cilacap) is an Indonesian activist, politician and actor. He is known for co-authoring the Indonesian Village Law and founding the Innovators 4.0 Movement. He is also known as a reform act ...

kidnapped, a violation of human rights, later Sudjatmiko had become one of his spokesperson. Prior to the debate, Prabowo also admitted to Sudjatmiko, that he had released all activists he had kidnapped but didn't know of their later fates after released. Explaining his decision, Budiman claimed people changed after 25 years, both him and Prabowo "moved to the middle." Maria Catarina Sumarsih, whose son was shot dead during the Semanggi shootings on 13 November 1998, said that Prabowo was responsible for the tragedy.

Business career

After being discharged from the military, Prabowo Subianto joined his brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo's business. He purchased Kiani Kertas, a paper pulp and plantation company based in Mangkajang,

East Kalimantan East Kalimantan (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. Its territory comprises the eastern portion of Borneo/Kalimantan. It had a population of about 3.03 million at the 2010 census (within the cu ...

. Prior to Prabowo's purchase, Kiani was owned by Bob Hasan, a businessman close to former President

. Today, Prabowo's Nusantara Group controls 27 companies in Indonesia and abroad. Prabowo's companies include Nusantara Energy ( oil and natural gas, coal), Tidar Kerinci Agung (

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

plantations) and Jaladri Nusantara (fishery industry). Prabowo Subianto rebranded Kiani Kertas to Kertas Nusantara. The company was established in 1990 and is part of the Nusantara Energy. It controls an area of 3,400 hectares used for paper mills, employee housing, private schools, and various company facilities. Kiani has been awarded ISO 900–2005 status as one of the highest quality management companies. It is reported that Kiani Kertas has been experiencing financial difficulties, and in early 2014, workers took to the streets to demand their wages which had not been paid in five months. Prabowo Subianto was the wealthiest presidential candidate in the 2009 election, with assets of Rp 1.5 trillion (about US$150 million) and US$7.5 million. In 2007, PT Ridlatama, whose majority stakeholder was British-based Churchill PLC, conducted a geo-survey of eastern Kalimantan for

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

. Two months after the survey yielded positive results, East Kutai officials granted mining licenses to Nusantara Energy (a subsidiary of the Nusantara Group, a conglomerate owned by Prabowo's family) to operate in the area surveyed by Ridlatama. In 2010, Ridlatama's license was revoked, effectively completing Nusantara's take over of Churchill's operations. Churchill appealed to the Supreme Court of Indonesia but lost the case. In 2012, Churchill filed a case against the government of Indonesia at the

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is an international arbitration institution established in 1966 for legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors and States. ICSID is part of ...

, demanding $2 billion in compensation. Indonesia argued that ICSID had no authority to arbitrate. In 2014 ICSID ruled that it had the authority and the case is still ongoing. In 2014, the regent of East Kutai, Isran Noor, publicly endorsed Prabowo Subianto as a presidential candidate. He also considered pressing criminal charges against Churchill, alleging that Churchill forged its license.

Advocacy career

Farmers' rights (HKTI)

The Indonesian Farmers' Association (HKTI) was established in 1973 to advocate for the farmers' rights. Prabowo Subianto was elected President of HKTI on 5 December 2004, and he was reappointed in 2010 for a second term.

Market traders (APPSI)

The Indonesian Traditional Market Traders Association (APPSI) is a non-profit organization advocating for the welfare of traders in Indonesia's traditional markets. Prabowo was elected as president of APPSI in 2008. As a chairman of the organization, Prabowo often calls for the government to limit hypermarkets by regulating their distances so as not to harm small traders. "So far, traditional market traders have always been ignored, so that when a modern market was established, the capital owners of the market traders had to be willing to be disbanded due to demolition," said Prabowo.

Pencak silat (IPSI)

Prabowo and Indonesian Pencak Silat Association

Pencak silat Pencak silat (; in Western writings sometimes spelled "pentjak silat" or phonetically as "penchak silat") is a class of related Indonesian martial arts. In neighbouring countries, the term usually refers to professional competitive silat. It ...

is one of Indonesia's traditional martial arts. The Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (IPSI) oversees the regulation of the sport in Indonesia, develops athletes, and organises tournaments. Prabowo was elected as president of IPSI in 2004 and was re-elected in 2012 for a third consecutive term. At the 2011 SEA Games in Jakarta, the pencak silat sport managed to win the overall championship by winning 9 of the 18 events competed. IPSI's achievements under Prabowo's chairmanship were very impressive at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

, where pencak silat succeeded in contributing 14 of the 31 gold medals won by the Indonesian contingent. Prabowo Subianto is also the President of the International Pencak Silat Federation (IPSF).

Migrant workers

The Indonesian Advocacy Service for Justice and Peace (Padma) in the East Nusa Tenggara region assessed that Prabowo played a major role in the release of Wilfrida Soik from the death penalty at the Kota Bahru Court,

Kelantan Kelantan (; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate''; ) is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific, honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' ("The Blissful Abode"). ...

, Malaysia. Prabowo appointed Malaysian lawyer Tan Sri Mohammad Syafei to defend Wilfrida Soik. Wilfrida is a worker from East Nusa Tenggara who was sent illegally. Wilfrida was sentenced to death for killing her employer, Yeap Seok Pen, on 7 December 2010.

Political career

Early political career

Using his connections to President Suharto, Prabowo Subianto and his brother worked to silence journalistic and political critics in the 1990s. Hashim unsuccessfully pressured

Goenawan Mohamad Goenawan Mohamad (born 29 July 1941) is an Indonesian poet, essayist, playwright and editor. He is the founder and editor of the Indonesian magazine ''Tempo''. Mohamad is a vocal critic of the Indonesian government, and his magazine was periodi ...

to sell his outspoken and banned ''

Tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

'' magazine to him. As a lieutenant colonel, Prabowo Subianto invited

Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; né ad-Dakhil, 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islam in Indonesia, Islamic Kyai, religious leader who served as the fourth president of Indone ...

to his battalion headquarters in 1992 and warned him to stick to religion and to stay out of politics, or face unspecified actions if he continued to oppose the president. He later warned the intellectual Nurcholish Madjid (Cak Nur) to resign from the KIPP, the election monitoring unit set up by Goenawan Mohamad, which armed forces commander Feisal Tanjung had denounced as "obviously unconstitutional."

Golkar Party convention

In 2004, Prabowo Subianto was one of five contenders in the vying to become

Golkar The Party of Functional Groups (), often known by its abbreviation Golkar, is a Centre politics, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right big tent secular nationalist political parties in Indonesia, political party in Indonesia. Founded in ...

party's presidential candidate. He received the lowest number of votes, just 39, and was eliminated in the first round. The second round of voting was won by

. After finishing last in the party convention, Prabowo served as a member of the Golkar Advisory Council until his resignation on 12 July 2008.

Gerindra Party

In February 2008, Prabowo's inner circle, including Fadli Zon,

Muchdi Purwopranjono Major General (Ret.) Muchdi Purwopranjono (born 15 April 1949) is an Indonesian politician and former major general who served briefly as chief of the Indonesian Army's Special forces of Indonesia, Special Forces (Kopassus) and was former deputy ...

, and Prabowo's younger brother

, along with a few others established the

. Prabowo served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Central Leadership Council (DPP). He was later appointed general chairman of the party after the death of the party's previous chairman Suhardi in 2014.

Vice-presidential candidacy

2009 general election

In May 2009, Gerindra nominated Prabowo Subianto for the presidency in the 2009 elections. However, having won 26 out of 560 seats in the Indonesian parliament, the party did not have the required numbers, and Prabowo ran as a vice-presidential candidate to

, daughter of Indonesia's first president

. Prabowo and Megawati signed the Batu Tulis Agreement, which stated that: # PDI-P and Gerindra nominated Megawati as presidential candidate and Prabowo as vice-presidential candidate in the 2009 elections. # If elected, Prabowo can control Indonesia's economic programs and policies which are "based on the principles of standing on one's own feet, being sovereign in the political field, and having a national personality in the cultural field within the framework of a presidential system" # Prabowo can determine who will be Minister of Forestry, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Finance, Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Minister of Industry, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, Minister of Law and Human Rights, and Minister of Defense. # The government that is formed will support the PDI-P's people's program and the Gerindra's eight action programs for the prosperity of the people. # Funding for the 2009 elections will be covered 50% by Megawati and 50% by Prabowo. # Megawati shall back Prabowo as 2014 presidential election candidate. The pair, referred to colloquially by the Indonesian media as ''Mega–Pro'', earned 27% of the vote and lost to

and his running mate, economist

Boediono Boediono (Perfected Spelling System, EYD: Budiono, pronounced ; born 25 February 1943) is an Indonesian politician and economist who served as the 11th Vice President of Indonesia, vice president of Indonesia from 2009 to 2014. He became vice pr ...

. The results of the KPU's manual calculation, which were announced on 25 July 2009, were not much different from the results of the quick count. Megawati and Prabowo were absent at the announcement of the official tally even though Law No. 42 of 2008 concerning Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections mandated each pair of candidates to be present in determining the official results of the presidential election.

Presidential candidacies

2014 general election

In November 2011, Prabowo Subianto announced his intention to run in the 2014 presidential election. Surveys published by the Center for Policy Studies and Strategic Development (Puskaptis) and by the Indonesian Survey Institute published on 23 February 2012 gave him the lead – but observers and activists cast doubt on the polls. In March 2012, Gerindra named Prabowo Subianto its 2014 presidential candidate. The party's slogan was then changed to ''Gerindra Menang Prabowo Presiden'' (Gerindra Wins, Prabowo Becomes President). Prabowo Subianto said he would run an investment-friendly administration if he won and that Indonesia needed more energy exploration. Furthermore, he said he had been in close contact with labour unions and believed rising worker discontent could be managed with a wise national budget. He promised to use military-style efficiency to push through chronically delayed infrastructure projects, as well as to create jobs in the archipelago's backwaters by improving agricultural productivity. Another pillar to Prabowo's platform was that he was solidly secular, and his party planned to protect the rights of minority religious groups in the Muslim-majority country. According to numerous quick counts after the 9 April legislative election, Gerinda came in third place, positioning Prabowo Subianto as one of two leading presidential candidates for the election to be held 9 July, the other being Jakarta governor,

. On Tuesday, 20 May 2014,

, along with the

United Development Party The United Development Party (, PPP) is an Islam-based Al-Hamdi, Ridho (February 2017). ''Moving towards a Normalised Path: Political Islam in Contemporary Indonesia''. Jurnal Studi Pemerintahan (Journal of Government & Politics). Vol. 8 No. 1, p ...

(PPP), the

(PAN), the

(PKS), and the Crescent Star Party (PBB), officially endorsed Prabowo to run for the 2014 presidential election; the coalition collected 48.9% of votes and 52.1 seats in the parliament. The day before, Prabowo had picked former Coordinating Minister for Economics

Hatta Rajasa Muhammad Hatta Rajasa (born 18 December 1953) is an Indonesian politician who served as the Coordinating Minister for the Economy of Indonesia from 22 October 2009 to 13 May 2014. A member of the National Mandate Party (PAN), he previously served ...

as his vice-presidential running mate. On 22 July 2014, the day that the KPU was due to announce its official tally, Prabowo Subianto withdrew from the race after having insisted on his victory since the initial quick counts were released, although the majority showed Jokowi ahead. He attributed this withdrawal to Indonesia "failing in its duty to democracy" because of "massive cheating that is structured and systematic," and stated that he and Hatta "exercise our constitutional right to reject the presidential election and declare it unconstitutional". His speech, aired live, implied he would challenge the results in the

. Later reports indicated confusion over whether Prabowo Subianto had resigned from the election or simply rejected the count. According to Douglas Ramage of the Jakarta-based Bower's Asia Group, this was the first time since '' Reformasi'' began in 1998 that the legitimacy of an election was questioned; he declared the country was entering "uncharted territory." The legality of a Prabowo Subianto challenge is questionable, as – if he withdrew – he is no longer considered a presidential candidate. If he can make the challenge, according to ''

The Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian media ...

'', the gap between the two is sufficient to make such a challenge difficult. Under the presidential election law, Prabowo could face up to six years in prison and a 100 billion rupiah ($10 million) fine for withdrawing. Later that evening, Joko Widodo was officially announced as president and began to receive congratulations from world leaders. Following the announcement, the value of the

Indonesian rupiah The rupiah (Currency symbol, symbol: Rp; ISO 4217, currency code: IDR) is the official currency of Indonesia, issued and controlled by Bank Indonesia. Its name is derived from the Sanskrit word for silver, (). Sometimes, Indonesians also inform ...

dropped by 0.3%, and the JSX Composite fell by 0.9%. Observers denied Prabowo's allegations of cheating, finding that the elections were "generally fair and free;" Maswadi Rauf of the

University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia (UI; ) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the Dutch East Indies when UI was established) ...

stated that there was "no sign of significant fraud," and that Prabowo's withdrawal simply reflected "the real attitudes of the elite, who are not yet ready to accept losing." On 21 August 2014, the Indonesian Constitutional Court rejected his claim of fraud, confirming his election loss.

2019 general election

On 12 April 2018, Prabowo Subianto announced he would contest the 2019 presidential election if he could obtain sufficient support from other political parties. Indonesian media had speculated on whether Prabowo Subianto would become a presidential candidate or a "king-maker" giving his support to another candidate. Prabowo's brother Hashim in March 2018 said health and logistical factors had to be considered before the party announces a presidential candidate. In April 2018,

John McBeth John McBeth (31 May 1944 – 7 December 2023) was a New Zealand author and journalist, with the majority of his career spent in Southeast Asia. Early life and career McBeth was born on 31 May 1944, in Whanganui, New Zealand, and was the son of ...

reported Maritime Coordinating Minister

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (EYD: ''Luhut Binsar Panjaitan'', born 28 September 1947) is an Indonesian politician, businessman, and retired four-star Army general who has been serving as Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investments (I ...

had held a series of meetings with Prabowo Subianto, culminating in the proposal of a joint Jokowi-Prabowo ticket for the 2019 election. Luhut reportedly lost his enthusiasm after Prabowo allegedly said he would want to be in charge of the military and seven seats in any new cabinet. Fadli Zon denied Luhut and Prabowo had discussed politics, claiming they merely spoke about Europe's move to limit imports of Indonesian

. Gerindra official Andre Rosiade also dismissed the report as a hoax. Jokowi selfie with Prabowo and reporters

On 10 August 2018, Prabowo Subianto registered at the KPU office for the 2019 presidential election with

as his running mate and with the support of Gerindra, PKS, PAN, the Democratic Party and Berkarya Party. The Democratic Party had wanted Prabowo Subianto to choose

Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (born 10 August 1978), commonly referred to as AHY, is an Indonesian politician and former Major (rank), army major who is currently serving as the leader of the Democratic Party (Indonesia), Democratic Party. Serving in ...

as his running mate. Following the election, 'quick counts' conducted at polling stations by independent institutions authorised by the government indicated Jokowi had won by a margin of about 10%, but Prabowo Subianto claimed victory, insisting a real count by his side showed he received 62% of the vote. His unsubstantiated claims of widespread cheating prompted his supporters to stage protests in Jakarta, resulting in riots that left eight people dead and 737 injured. The Constitutional Court in June 2019 unanimously rejected Prabowo's appeal against the election result. On 14 July 2019, Prabowo finally conceded to Jokowi in a train ride at Jakarta MRT, congratulated Jokowi and apologized for criticizing him during the campaign trail much to the criticism of his upset supporters who expressed that Prabowo should remain as part of the opposition. His own party Gerindra eventually joined Jokowi's Onward Indonesia Coalition on 21 October 2019 with Prabowo himself appointed

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

on 23 October 2019, therefore joining Jokowi's cabinet.

2024 general election

On 7 January 2023, Prabowo Subianto launched his third presidential campaign for the 2024 presidential election. He is running as president, together with

Gibran Rakabuming Raka Gibran Rakabuming Raka (born 1 October 1987) is an Indonesian politician and businessman who has been 14th Vice President of Indonesia, vice president of Indonesia since 2024. Previously the 18th mayor of Surakarta from 2021 to 2024, he is the e ...

(the eldest son of

, the former President of Indonesia), as his vice-presidential candidate. Both he and Gibran registered at the KPU office on 25 October 2023 with the support of Gerindra, Golkar, PAN, PBB, the Democratic Party,

Gelora Party Indonesian People's Wave Party ( Indonesian: ), commonly abbreviated as Gelora (Passion), is a political party in Indonesia. The party establishment was declared on 10 November 2019, and its political party status was recognised by the Ministry o ...

Indonesian Solidarity Party The Indonesian Solidarity Party (, PSI) is a List of political parties in Indonesia, political party in Indonesia that focuses on women's rights, Pluralism (political theory), pluralism, and Indonesian youth. It is led by Kaesang Pangarep who is t ...

(PSI) and Garuda Party. Both he and Gibran's candidacies were challenged in the

due to age requirements. In Prabowo's case, a lawsuit was filed against him due to his old age (Prabowo was 71 at the time of announcing his candidacy) and having announced his candidacy for the third time. The Supreme Court ruled to reject the lawsuit. In November 2023, Prabowo Subianto called for "rebalancing" where, in the past decades, Indonesia looked to the West; now they should learn from the East like

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Prabowo entertained the idea of Indonesia joining BRICS if it is advantageous for Indonesia's economy, citing BRICS' nature as an economic bloc, not a geopolitical one. On 14 February 2024, in an unofficial report, Prabowo succeeded in leading three voting lines by getting 58% of the vote. Prabowo went on to win the quick count conducted by all surveys and called for unity as he pledged to be president for all Indonesians and will form a government that will be led by "the best sons and daughters of Indonesia." Despite this, he also told his supporters to calmly but cautiously wait for the official results from KPU. On 20 March 2024, the

General Elections Commission The General Elections Commission (, abbreviated as KPU) is the body that organises elections in Indonesia. Its responsibilities include deciding which parties can contest elections, organising the voting and announcing the results and seats won ...

(KPU) announced Prabowo's victory, having received over 96 million votes. Prabowo and his vice-presidential candidate, Gibran Rakabuming, they were sworn in on 20 October 2024. On 22 April 2024, the Constitutional Court rejected all legal challenges against the results of the presidential election, allowing the KPU to declare the Prabowo-Gibran tandem the winner.

Minister of defense (2019–2024)

Appointment

On 23 October 2019, Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated as Indonesia's Minister of Defense by president Joko Widodo. He was aided by Sakti Wahyu Trenggono as Deputy Minister of Defense. According to Jokowi, Prabowo got the job because "Indeed, he has a lot of experience there." Jokowi clarified his decision to appoint Prabowo was to build "democracy based on mutual cooperation" and said it is for the good of the country, while Prabowo said he express his desire to serve and his decision to accept the appointment is to preserve national unity.

Military

Prabowo periksa calon anggota Komponen Cadangan

Shortly after his inauguration, Prabowo Subianto began advocating for a "total people's war" doctrine for Indonesia's national defense. In realization to this, he formed the Reserve Component on 7 October 2021 and appointed TV presenter Deddy Corbuzier as the reserve component ambassador to boost recruitment. Considering that some of the TNI's equipment are old, Prabowo made efforts to continue to modernize military capabilities. He believed that long term planning with the assumption that the defense budget is locked at 0.8% of Indonesia's GDP will allow Indonesia to purchase the most advanced weapons and also build a domestic defense industry. The plan, which emerged to the public not long after the sinking of the KRI ''Nanggala'' submarine, became a hot debate because the proposed figure reached Rp 1,700 trillion (Rp 1.7 quadrillion) or Rp 68 trillion per year. Prabowo used the certainty of the defense budget to purchase the main equipment for advanced weapons that the TNI had never had. He is planning to massively expand Indonesia's domestic ability to manufacture ammunition, as Indonesia's capacity to manufacture is only 450 million rounds of ammunition per year, despite a demand for one billion rounds of ammunition annually. For the

Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force (, sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF) is the Air force, aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The Indonesian Air Force is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is headed by the Chief of Staff of th ...

, Prabowo is looking to strengthen Indonesia's military by acquiring newer fighter aircraft such as

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...

s and

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French Twinjet, twin-engine, Canard (aeronautics), canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft designed and ...

s from the US and France while in the same time buying new transport aircraft such as Airbus A400M Atlas and newer Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules. For the

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy (, TNI-AL) is the Navy, naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclus ...

, Prabowo signed contracts for newer surface combatants such as Arrowhead 140 and FREMM while exploring possible local production on the Scorpene class submarines under PAL Indonesia. He also ordered 500 Pindad Maung light utility vehicles on 2020. He also led renegotiation attempts regarding on the payment of the KAI KF-21 Boramae fighter program after his predecessor, Ryamizard Ryacudu stalled the payment of Indonesia's shares in the program. He later attended the launch of the aircraft prototype together with South Korean President

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (, ; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the Chief ...

representing Indonesia. On 20 April 2022, together with Minister of State Owned Enterprise Erick Thohir, Prabowo strengthened the Indonesian defence industry by consolidating PT Len, Pindad, PAL Indonesia,

Indonesian Aerospace Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) (), is an Indonesian aerospace company involved in aircraft design and the development and manufacture of civilian and military regional commuter aircraft, and a subsidiary of state-owned electronics manufacturer . Th ...

and PT Dahana into a single holding, Defend ID.

Food estate program

On 2020, Prabowo was appointed by Jokowi to spearhead the national food estate program. Jokowi's reasoning for Prabowo's appointment was that as Minister of Defense, Prabowo also plays important role on carrying out strategic projects such as food storage. The development of food barns in

Central Kalimantan Central Kalimantan () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. It is the largest province in Indonesia by area since 2022, bordered by West Kalimantan to the west ...

began in mid-2020, utilizing existing rice fields covering an area of around 30,000 hectares, with 10,000 hectares located in Pulang Pisau Regency and 20,000 hectares in Kapuas Regency. In 2021, this project will be expanded to 44,135 hectares. Although Prabowo was selected as the project leader, he emphasize that the Ministry of Defense will only play a supporting role in the food estate work as the Minister of Agriculture will play the leading role, indicating that cross-sector collaboration is the key to the success of this project. This reflects the synergy between the agricultural and defense sectors in an effort to achieve sustainability and national food security.

Foreign policy

Prabowo bertemu Menhan UAE disaksikan Presiden Jokowi

In his first 100 days as Minister of Defense, Prabowo visited 8 countries to meet the Ministers of Defense of

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, Turkey, China, Japan, the Philippines, and France to strengthen military relations. Prabowo also made efforts to help state owned defense enterprises to export their products overseas. He succeeded in helping

export CN-235 aircraft to

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and export NC-212i aircraft to

, as well as helping PAL Indonesia export

landing platform dock An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently operat ...

-type warships to the

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) () is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an estimated strength of 24,500 active service personnel, including the 10,300-strong Philippine Marine Corps. It operates 91 combat ...

. In August 2024, Subianto and Australian Prime Minister

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

announced a new defense cooperation agreement to strengthen Australia–Indonesia security ties.

South China Sea

Following an incident in late 2019 where Chinese vessels violated the Indonesian

EEZ An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

off the

Natuna Islands Natuna Regency is an islands regency located in the northernmost part of the Province of Riau Islands, Indonesia. It contains at least 154 islands, of which 127 of them are reported as uninhabited. This archipelago, with a land area of 1,978.4 ...

, Prabowo Subianto called for a cautious response, referring to China as a "friendly nation". He also ordered the deployment of additional navy vessels in the region in response to the incident. Despite the controversy of his inaction in Natuna Island, a poll by Indo Barometer on early January shows that Prabowo Subianto is the most popular minister in Jokowi's cabinet. When asked about the situation on the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

in a session at IISS Shangri-La Dialogue on 14 June 2022, Prabowo answered that Indonesia respects the interest of all countries that are involved in the region. He then quoted

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

that "your enemies must not be our enemies too". In reaction to the formation of

AUKUS AUKUS ( ), also styled as Aukus, is a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States intended to "promote a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable." Initially announced on 15 September ...

and Australian plans to acquire

nuclear submarines A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear weapons, nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically Marine diesel engine, diesel-elect ...

, Prabowo thinks that the alliance is made on basis of defense and it was beneath the sovereign rights of Australia, UK, and USA.

US Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

said both Secretary

Lloyd Austin Lloyd James Austin III (born August 8, 1953) is a retired United States Army four-star General (United States), general who served as the 28th United States Secretary of Defense, United States secretary of defense from 2021 to 2025. Before ...

and Minister Prabowo viewed China's aggression in the South China Sea as inconsistent to

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. This statement was then refuted by Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin as a lie, claiming Prabowo never said that when Chinese embassy contacted the press office of the Ministry of Defense. Prabowo himself later refuted the American statement, stating there was no joint statement nor a press conference regarding to this matter and states that Indonesia is in good terms with China, United States and Russia and respects their interests, insisting Indonesia's non-aligned stances. During the 3rd presidential debate of the 2024 elections, Prabowo argued that the situation in the region underlines the needs of a strong military. He states that the military needs more patrol platform and satellites to defend the nation from outside threats.

United States

In October 2020, Prabowo Subianto visited the United States despite his previous ban from entering the country, in his capacity as Minister of Defense after being invited by his US counterpart

Mark Esper Mark Thomas Esper (born April 26, 1964) is an American politician and manufacturing/high-tech executive who served as the 27th United States secretary of defense from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, he had previously served as ...

and a visa was issued for him. Several human rights organizations, including

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, had previously called for the Trump administration to cancel the visit. From his frequent foreign visit overtures such as in the United States, Prabowo succeeded in convincing the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

to approve the sale of the advanced F-15EX Eagle II supersonic fighter aircraft to Indonesia.

Russo-Ukrainian War

On 3 June 2023, Prabowo Subianto proposed a multi-point peace plan to end the ongoing

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

IISS The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is an international research institute or think tank focusing on defence and security issues. Since 1997, its headquarters have been at Arundel House in London. It has offices on four co ...

Shangri-La Dialogue The IISS Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) is a " Track One" inter-governmental security conference held annually in Singapore by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The dialogue is commonly attended by ...

in Singapore. His proposal includes the following. # Immediate cessation of hostilities through cease-fire # Establishment of demilitarized zones by withdrawing 15 kilometers from their forward positions # UN referendums on disputed territories Prabowo's proposal was dismissed outright by Ukrainian defense minister

Oleksii Reznikov Oleksii Yuriiovych Reznikov (, ; born 18 June 1966) is a Ukrainian lawyer and politician who served as the List of Ministers of Defense (Ukraine), Minister of Defence of Ukraine from 4 November 2021 until his dismissal on 5 September 2023. ...

, stating that the proposal was "a Russian plan, not an Indonesian plan". This proposal was also criticized by EU foreign policy chief

Josep Borrell Josep Borrell Fontelles (; born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2019 to 2024. A member of the Spani ...

, saying that there must be a "just peace" not "peace of surrender". It was also criticized by PDI-P as Secretary General

Hasto Kristiyanto Hasto Kristiyanto (born 7 July 1966) is an Indonesian politician who is serving as the secretary-general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle since 2014. He previously served as a member of the House of Representatives from 2004 to 200 ...

said Indonesia does not need a leader who gives advice that deviates from the principle of "free and active" diplomacy. However, his plan was well received by China, with former Chinese ambassador to the United States

Cui Tiankai Cui Tiankai (; born October 1952) is a Chinese diplomat and was the longest-serving Chinese Ambassador to the United States, a role he filled from April 2013 to June 2021. Early life and education In 1952, Cui was born in Shanghai, China. He ...

expressing appreciation for Prabowo's efforts while criticizing

the West West is a cardinal direction or compass point. West or The West may also refer to: Geography and locations Global context * The Western world * Western culture and Western civilization in general * The Western Bloc, countries allied with NAT ...

for mismanaging their own security situation. Prabowo was later called by Jokowi for clarifications on the peace plan as Indonesia had officially condemned Russia for the invasion. Jokowi then clarified that Prabowo's peace plan as "okay" because it was just a suggestion in an open dialogue and did not officially reflect Indonesia's stance. On 2 June 2024, Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

met Prabowo on the sidelines of IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore and invited him to attend the June 2024 Ukraine peace summit at

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, hoping for his attendance. In response to this invitation, Prabowo said he can't confirm his presence to the June summit and he had to discuss with President Jokowi,

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Retno Marsudi Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi (born 27 November 1962) is an Indonesian diplomat who formerly served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet of Joko Widodo between 2014 and 2024. She is the first female minister appointed to the pos ...

and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Hadi Tjahjanto on Indonesia's official stance in attending the summit. Prabowo told Zelenskyy that "Many countries feel that in a peace summit all elements must be present, especially Russia". Prabowo offered Indonesia's solution to Zelenskyy which he seemed not to accept Indonesia's proposal on ceasefire and Prabowo is keen to continue finding a solution. Prabowo also offered Zelenskyy Indonesia's good service in any avenues to find solutions for peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Gaza-Israel conflict

During the Israel-Gaza conflict in 2023, Prabowo Subianto called out his disappointment with the

Western countries The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...

who seemed silent when they saw civilians and children becoming victims of war and blasted the west for a perceived double standards on

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

. He has donated Rp. 5 billion of his personal wealth to the Palestinian people and joined President Jokowi, Secretary of State

Pratikno Pratikno (born 13 February 1962) is an Indonesian politician and academic. He currently serving as Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs. He also served as the Minister / Secretary of State of Indonesia in the Onward ...

and Ambassador to Indonesia from Palestine Zuhair Al Shun in sending off 51.5 tonnes of aid delivered by the Indonesian Air Force. He had also communicated with the Egyptian defense minister Mohamed Ahmad Zaki to allow the passage of the Indonesian Navy hospital ship KRI ''dr. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat'' to dock near

El Arish ʻArish or el-ʻArīsh ( ' ) is the capital and largest city of the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt, as well as the largest city on the Sinai Peninsula, lying on the Mediterranean coast northeast of Cairo and west of the Egypt–Gaza border ...

, Sinai in order to deliver further aid for Palestine. During the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on 2 June 2024, Prabowo stated Indonesia's readiness to send troops to Gaza under an UN peacekeeping mission if needed and he also states Indonesia's readiness to evacuate and treat up to 1000 wounded Palestinians in Indonesian hospitals as soon as possible if situation in the ground permits. His statement is further backed by Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Agus Subiyanto, stating the TNI can deploy 1394 personnels for peacekeeping missions in Gaza and has approached

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

who express their interest in joining Indonesia for a joint operation. President Jokowi express his support on Prabowo's plan to provide medical aid and instructed him to seek cooperation with the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

on operating a hospital in Gaza and flew to

to attend a summit regarding to Gaza on Jokowi's behalf. Prabowo's idea also gained support from Prime Minister

Anwar Ibrahim Anwar bin Ibrahim (; born 10 August 1947), also known by his abbreviation as DSAI and PMX, is a Malaysian politician who is the 10th prime minister of Malaysia since 2022. A member of the People's Justice Party (Malaysia), People's Justice P ...

, who proposed a joint mission between Indonesia and Malaysia.

Education

One of Prabowo's first actions as Minister of Defense was to expand the field of study at the Indonesian Defense University. In Prabowo's directive, campus opened the Bachelor of Military Medicine and Bachelor of Science and Mathematics and Military Science study programs. He also waived tuition fees for distinguished cadets and ensure the welfare of students by providing laptop computers from campus. On 25 March 2022, Jokowi and Prabowo expanded the campus by opening a branch outside ,

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

, namely Ben Mboi Polytechnic, in Belu,

East Nusa Tenggara East Nusa Tenggara (; ) is the southernmost province of Indonesia. It comprises the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, facing the Indian Ocean in the south and the Flores Sea in the north, with a total land area of 47,238.07 km2. It cons ...

. Prabowo also personally received 22 Palestinian students to be enrolled at campus on 8 November 2023 with a 5-year term study in medicine, pharmacy, and engineering. He gave them full scholarship and promised to enroll more Palestinian students into the university. According to Prabowo, their enrollment is a part of Indonesia's own commitment to aid Palestine in their efforts to be a recognized sovereign country.

Presidency (2024–present)

Prabowo Subianto takes oath as president of Indonesia

The Prabowo–Gibran ticket won the 2024 presidential election with 58.59% of the vote against two of their opponents, Anies–Muhaimin and Ganjar–Mahfud. On 20 October 2024, Prabowo Subianto assumed the presidency of Indonesia. At 73 years, three days of age on inauguration day, Prabowo is the oldest person to assume Indonesian presidency, while his counterpart, Gibran, is the youngest person to assume the Indonesian vice presidency at 37 years, 19 days of age. In his inaugural address, Prabowo vowed to address internal challenges such as widespread corruption, which continues to hinder the country's development. Additionally, he committed to enhancing Indonesia's self-sufficiency, focusing on economic reforms and strengthening national industries.

Cabinet

On 21 October, Prabowo unveiled the largest ministerial cabinet in Indonesia since the Revised Dwikora Cabinet of President

in 1966, composed of 103 members including 48 ministers and 55 deputy ministers. Some ministers from the previous

Onward Indonesia Cabinet The Onward Indonesia Cabinet () was sworn in on 23 October 2019 by President Joko Widodo. The president reshuffled this cabinet 13 times. The last reshuffle occurred on 11 September 2024. Lineup Heads of the cabinet Coordinating ministers ...

such as

Airlangga Hartarto Airlangga Hartarto (born 1 October 1962) is an Indonesian politician and businessman. He is the current Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs (Indonesia), Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs in President Joko Widodo's Onward Indones ...

Sri Mulyani Sri Mulyani Indrawati (born 26 August 1962) is an Indonesian economist who has served as Minister of Finance of Indonesia since 2016 under President Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto. She has previously served in the role under Susilo Bambang Yu ...

and Bahlil Lahadalia were retained as ministers in this cabinet. On 25 October, he held a military-style retreat for his cabinet at the

Economy

Prabowo's economic policy claim to emulate his father's, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, who had a socialist economic outlook. This was further confirmed by his younger brother,

Hashim Hashim () is a common male Arabic given name. Notable people with the name include: *Hashim ibn Abd Manaf * Hashim Amir Ali * Hashim Shah * Hashim Amla * Hashim Thaçi * Hashim Khan * Hashim Qureshi * Mir Hashim Ali Khan *Hashim al-Atassi * Hashi ...

that Prabowo's term as president will be the "right momentum" to apply his father's theories into practice and the proposed policies that will be enacted by Prabowo were the dreams hoped by their father that is soon to be realized. Among his father's economic policies, Prabowo is once seen to revive his father's ''Program Benteng'' policy, which was enacted during

Mohammad Natsir Mohammad Natsir (17 July 19086 February 1993) was an Islamic scholar and politician. He was Indonesia's fifth List of Prime Ministers of Indonesia, prime minister. After moving to Bandung from his hometown Solok, West Sumatra for senior high sch ...

's government that empowers indigenous business owners. His economic policies also draw inspiration from his father-in-law,

, with Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs

remarking that Suharto's economic policies on investments, spending and exports may be again enacted but unlike Suharto, Prabowo will be eyeing more towards digital economy, downstreaming and semiconductors. On 5 November 2024, Prabowo signed a law that wrote off

bad debt In finance, bad debt, occasionally called uncollectible accounts expense, is a monetary amount owed to a creditor that is unlikely to be paid and for which the creditor is not willing to take action to collect for various reasons, often due to ...

for

small and medium enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organizat ...

in order to increase national economic resilience through write-offs and conditional write-offs in the fields of agriculture, plantations, animal husbandry, fisheries and maritime affairs. The Write-off/Collection of Bad Debts of MSMEs is implemented as part of the 130-day work program of the Red and White Cabinet. The government stated that MSMEs are the backbone of the national economy, with a total of 66 million business units and absorbing up to 97% of the total workforce in Indonesia. However, various challenges such as the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, natural disasters, and difficult economic conditions have caused many MSME players to experience credit congestion. His

value-added tax A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...

policy drawed controversy as the government planned to raise VAT from 11% to 12%. The increase plan sparked outrage and concerns from labor unions to business owners. Social media users, especially in

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, began to actively campaign to stop paying taxes as a form of protest against the government's policy while labour unions threatens a massive strike if the increase goes through. The

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (, PDI-P) is a centre to centre-left secular-nationalist political party in Indonesia. Since 2014, it has been the ruling and largest party in the House of Representatives (DPR), having won 110 seat ...

also joined in protest against the proposed raise but was met with criticism from pro-government legislators for being hypocritical as PDI-P once endorsed the idea during Jokowi's presidency by passing the law that will gradually raise it to 12% back in 2021. On 31 December 2024, Prabowo and

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

announced that the raise to 12% will only be applied to luxurious goods and services such as yachts, private jets and luxurious housing while there will be no tax raise for other goods and services that is not considered as luxury. During a cabinet meeting on 22 January 2025, Prabowo remarked that he is the first president to oversee a budget that is "up to the ninth unit" and announced that he will cut non-essential spending in his government, from cutting budget for official trips by the ministry to banning ceremonial events that is considered as waste of budget. Doing so, Prabowo managed to cut the budget up to Rp. 306,6 trillion through

Presidential Instruction Number 1 of 2025 Instruction of President of the Republic of Indonesia Number 1 of 2025 on Budget Efficiency in Implementing the State Budget and Regional Budget 2025 is an instructional decree signed by President Prabowo Subianto on 22 January 2025, intended to s ...

, and the slashed funds will be relocated towards policies that will benefit the people, such as the free school lunch ( Indonesian: ''Makan Bergizi Gratis'' (MBG), literally: Free Nutritious Lunch) program. On Monday 24 February 2025, Prabowo officially launched the Daya Anagata Nusantara ( Danantara)

sovereign wealth fund A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), or sovereign investment fund, is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as ...

. During the same launching speech, he also stated that the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

has proven its commitment with discipline and accountable financial governance. Danantara works by gathering state-owned enterprise assets to seek funding. These assets will then be used as collateral for debt or even sold, which is estimated to manage up to US$900 billion in

assets under management In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

. The initial funding is targeted at US$20 billion. Prabowo Subianto officially launched Indonesia's first-ever bullion bank service on Wednesday, 26 February 2025. For years, gold mined in Indonesia has often flowed overseas without proper domestic storage. With the launch of the bullion bank, Prabowo hopes to provide a more structured system for the storage, management, and trade of gold within the country.

Defense

During the

2024 Indonesian general election General elections were held in Indonesia on 14 February 2024 to elect the President of Indonesia, president, Vice President of Indonesia, vice president, and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which consists of the House of Representatives (I ...

, Prabowo proposed several policies in regards to the defense budget, defense industry, strengthening the Reserve Component, increased TNI presence in the border, synergy within defense institutions against separatism, and increased competency in defense technology and professionalism. His policies enacted as Minister of Defense is then continued by Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. Prabowo's modernization programs on the armed forces from his days as Minister of Defense largely continued under his presidency.

Defense acquisitions

Prabowo has stated his interest to join TAI TF Kaan project in a meeting with Turkish president

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

during his state visit in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. From the bilateral visit, the two countries agreed to set up joint ventures between strategic defense companies from both countries, aiming to contribute in Indonesia's development of fifth-generation fighters and

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

shipbuilding. During the bilateral meeting with

French president The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

, Prabowo and Macron witnessed as their respective defence ministers Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and Sébastien Lecornu signed a

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term she ...

for a few military hardware, which includes additional CAESAR self-propelled howitzer, Scorpène-class submarines, light frigates and finally an additional order of 12

following up the 42 Rafales ordered when Prabowo was defense minister. The purchase of additional Rafales became noteworthy considering rumors spread that Indonesia may ditch the entire order and replace it with Chengdu J-10 of the same quantity after

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

has shot down one of

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

Rafales during Operation Sindhoor. Minister Lecornu in

hailed the agreement as a sign of Indonesia's trust on the French defense industry.

Armed Forces Act reform

Under Prabowo, the government has controversially made efforts to revise Act No. 34 of 2004, known as the Indonesian National Armed Forces Act. The revision has become controversial because some clause of the Act contains potential to revive ''dwifungsi'' (double role) and allow active

service members to took on civilian roles in government. The lack of transparency, accountability, public participation and the perceived mutilation of the spirit of Reformasi has lead to widespread protest. The decision to discuss such revision in Fairmont Jakarta, a 5-star hotel nearby the

MPR/DPR/DPD building The Parliamentary Complex of Indonesia (), also known as the MPR/DPR/DPD Building, is the seat of government for the Indonesian legislative branch of government, which consists of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the House of Representati ...

instead of the parliament building itself had already sparked criticisms from human rights organization.

Foreign policy

Prabowo continued the foreign policy of "thousand friends and zero enemies" enacted by his predecessors

and

with a slightly more active role. Under his administration, he tried to widen the definition of Indonesia's "free and active" foreign policy through political and economic pragmatism as well as regional stability. He modelled his foreign policy from the words of

Mohammad Hatta Mohammad Hatta ( ; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman, nationalist, and independence activist who served as the country's first Vice President of Indonesia, vice president as well as the third prime minister. Known as ...

as "sailing between two reefs." Compared to Jokowi, Prabowo is seen as a much more aggressive, aspirational, and decisive diplomat. Former president Yudhoyono remarked that Prabowo will be a "foreign policy president." He was the first

to conduct foreign visits prior to his inauguration, visiting 20 countries with

being his first after the election. As president, Prabowo made his first overseas visit again to

on 9 November 2024.

South China Sea

During a November 2024 presidential visit by Prabowo to China, Indonesia and China signed a memorandum of understanding for "joint maritime development" in the area of the two countries "overlapping claims" near the

. Indonesia's Foreign Ministry subsequently issued a statement that the memorandum did not impact Indonesia's sovereignty or rights in the area and stating that in Indonesia's view the Chinese claims do not have a legal basis. Critics of the memorandum who were quoted by the

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

contended that the wording could support China's position regarding the South China Sea claims.

Middle East

Prabowo has continued to vocally advocating for Palestinian independence. In his diplomatic visit to the United States, he proposed the

two-state solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...

to US President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

to end the Gaza conflict. He also once again voiced his support in the D-8 summit held in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

while expressing his disappointment in front of other Muslim leaders on the lack of unity, citing

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, and

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. His disappointment gained support from Malaysian Prime Minister

, calling his disappointment "a bitter truth." When it was Prabowo's turn to speak in the D-8 summit, some dignitaries, including Turkish President

, "walked out" from the summit, nudging Prabowo's seat on his way out. Many at home perceived this diplomatic gaffe as Prabowo being "too preachy" and indirectly offending Erdogan, whose country enjoys

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

support and having diplomatic ties with

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, briefly straining relations between both countries. However, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya clarified that Erdogan had already apologized before the conference session started and had requested Prabowo to switch turns with him so that he can leave early to attend a bilateral meeting with another leader. The Turkish Embassy in Indonesia states that relations between Indonesia and Turkey will remain harmonious despite of Erdogan's leave. Prabowo once again advocated for a

to end the long ongoing conflict in Gaza in front of

, who some time before meeting Prabowo has announced plans for French recognition of Palestine. He also said that he is open to normalize relations with Israel once Palestinian independence is acknowledged. In his statement, Palestine's independence is the only solution for a long lasting peace in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

while stating that

also has an inalienable right to exist as a

sovereign state A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

and Indonesia will recognize Israel only after Palestine is fully independent. Despite the idea of recognizing Israel after Palestine became independent became controversial, the

Indonesian Ulema Council Indonesian Ulema Council (, , abbreviated MUI) is Indonesia's top Islamic scholars' body. MUI was founded in Jakarta on 26 July 1975 during the New Order era. The council comprises many Indonesian Muslim groups including Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), ...

(MUI) endorsed the idea, reminding the public that his statement is not a pro-Israel statement. However, MUI told that Prabowo must hold Israel accountable for their war crimes in Gaza even if he wishes to normalize ties with Israel. The

and the

also gave their support to Prabowo's statement but told Prabowo to focus more on Palestinian independence first, while PDI-P politician Djarot Saiful Hidayat state that Prabowo should not rush to recognize Israel as a state, as it is considered a violation to the

Constitution of Indonesia The 1945 Constitution of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (, commonly abbreviated as ''UUD 1945'' or ''UUD '45'') is the supreme law and basis for all laws of Indonesia. The constitution was written in June–August 1945, in the ...

India

Prime Minister of Bharat Narendra Modi and President of Bharat Droupati Murmu with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto

Prabowo was invited by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

's government as chief guest of the

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially calle ...

celebration in 2025. The visit is to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. The Indonesian president was welcomed by Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita. The trade between the two countries in 2023 stands at USD 29.40 billion. Prabowo was met by the Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar. Indian Ministry of External Affairs described the relationship as "warm and friendly… spanning over millennia." President Prabowo Subianto was given a ceremonial welcome by the President of India

Droupadi Murmu Droupadi Murmu (born Durgi Biranchi Tudu; 20 June 1958) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the president of India since 2022. She won the 2022 Indian presidential election, 2022 presidential election as the Bharatiya Janata Party ...

and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prabowo said Indonesia considers India a great friend and the first country that recognized Indonesian independence. A 352-member Indonesian military marching contingent participated in the

Republic Day parade The Delhi Republic Day parade is the largest and most important of the parades marking the Republic Day celebrations in India. The parade takes place every year on 26 January at Kartavya Path, New Delhi. It is the main attraction of India's R ...

in New Delhi. During the visit the two sides are to discuss and conclude deals in trade, healthcare, digital technologies, energy and tourism, as well as the purchase of the

BrahMos The BrahMos (also designated as PJ-10)2024 Indonesian general election General elections were held in Indonesia on 14 February 2024 to elect the President of Indonesia, president, Vice President of Indonesia, vice president, and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which consists of the House of Representatives (I ...

, one of the key promises Prabowo wished to deliver once elected is the enactment of a free lunch meal program. This policy was introduced during the election campaign with his campaign team demonstrating it by distributing free milk and lunch meal. After Prabowo was declared as president-elect, pilot program of the policy was enacted. Prabowo said that he wanted to enact this because he saw nearly 25% of Indonesian children skip their breakfast and he wanted to know if the program could succeed by conducting pilot programs. On May 24, 2024, he changed the program into free nutritious meal program. Overall, this program is designed with the aim of building superior resources, reducing stunting and poverty rates while driving the economy. This program is also one of Prabowo's key policies in realizing the Golden Indonesia 2045 Vision that targets the creation of a golden generation by utilizing demographic dividends that can launch Indonesia into a

developed country A developed country, or advanced country, is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for eval ...

. The program was officially rolled out since 6 January 2025 in 26 provinces of Indonesia, targeting children from

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

students, as well as pregnant and nursing mothers with the aim of able to bring benefit to at least 82,9 million beneficiaries.

Health

On 10 February 2025, Prabowo's government enacted a free health check service with aims to improve the

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

of the population through the use of SatuSehat app launched by the Ministry of Health. The government aimed to decrease

mortality rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular Statistical population, population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically ...

caused by disease that can be avoided through

preventive healthcare Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, is the application of healthcare measures to prevent diseases.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health a ...

such as

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

New capital

Construction of Nusantara under Prabowo's presidency continued despite no longer be considered as priority due to reallocation of other policies such as the free meal program.

Controversies

Internal army dispute

In 1983, according to Sintong Panjaitan, Prabowo had a dispute with a few generals who plotted to overthrow

to the point that he plotted to use Detachment 81 to attempt kidnapping these generals, including General L. B. Moerdani who was rumored to be plotting a coup against Suharto. However, his plot was stopped by

, the commander of Detachment 81. Prabowo was his deputy commander at that time. Major Luhut Pandjaitan ordered to cancel the attempt and confiscate all weapons and equipment. The threat of a coup against Suharto was later found to be false and Prabowo was given a leave due to stress.Berpangkat Kapten, Prabowo Berani Lawan Jendral Benny Moerdani''.''
Diakses dari situs berita Merdeka pada 3 Mei 2014 However, Prabowo denied Sintong Panjaitan's version of the story by laughing. According to him, it was unreasonable that a captain could lead his troops to fight and kidnap a general. He calmly said that every time there was a new book, there would be a new coup accusation leveled against himself, and left everyone with their own version of the story. Prabowo was once again involved in a dispute with Moerdani ahead of the 1988 MPR General Assembly. According to Kivlan Zen, rumors persisted that Moerdani would use his office of commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces to gain support from the ABRI faction to run as vice president to

. Prabowo reported this to Suharto and Suharto heeded Prabowo's report by replacing Moerdani with Try Sutrisno as commander of the armed forces. The position of vice president then fell to

Sudharmono Sudharmono (Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, EVO: Soedharmono; 12 March 1927 – 25 January 2006), also known by his nickname Pak Dar, was an Indonesian Army officer and politician who served as the fifth vice president of Indonesia from 1988 unti ...

. Moerdani's dismissal sparked worries of a coup, however the coup never really happened. Despite this, it showed Prabowo's rising influence in the armed forces and on Suharto's decision making.

Occupation of East Timor

In 1983, it was claimed that Prabowo commanded the Indonesian special forces responsible for the Kraras massacres in East Timor. The survivors of these massacres were locked up in a concentration camp guarded by Prabowo's men, where many died of starvation and ill-treatment. Prabowo claimed he was nowhere near the Viqueque district when the massacre happened, and neither the UN nor the government of Timor Leste have ever proffered charges of human rights violations against him. Jose Manuel Tesoro, writing for Asiaweek in 2000, contacted four separate non-governmental organizations including TAPOL in London; Solidamor in Jakarta; the HAK Foundation, headquartered in Dili; and the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) in New York, and they could not provide any eyewitness reports, transcripts of intercepted communications, leaked papers, or anything that could substantiate Prabowo's involvement.

Kidnapping of activists

Between 1997 and 1998, Kopassus members from Team Mawar (Rose Team) were responsible for pro-democracy activists kidnappings of at least 22 people mainly in Jakarta. Nine activists were released and 13 remain missing. In 1999, 11 members of Tim Mawar were found guilty by a military court. However, they appealed the verdict to the Supreme Court, which was not made public and only revealed in 2007, and were never jailed and all but one remained in the military. In September 2020, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto appointed two of the Team Mawar officers, two serving brigadier generals, to senior positions in the Ministry of Defense following approval by President

criticised the appointments as the President and the DPR had promised to investigate missing activist cases and instead placed suspects in positions of power. and shortly after Prabowo was inaugurated as president two more members of the Team Mawar became heads of the National Cyber and Crypto Agency and the Main Secretariat of the State Intelligence Agency.

Paradise Papers

In November 2017 an investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism cited his name in the list of politicians named in "

Paradise Papers The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsche Z ...

" allegations.

Mirage 2000 purchase

On 13 February 2024, the

Corruption Eradication Commission The Corruption Eradication Commission (), abbreviated as KPK, is an Indonesian government agency established to prevent and fight corruption in the country. History Background Anti-corruption efforts began in Indonesia in the 1950s. Followin ...

had received a report of alleged corruption conducted by Prabowo in the purchase of ex- Qatar Emiri Air Force Dassault Mirage 2000-5 jet aircraft which was canceled by the Ministry of Defense due to fiscal limitations. Allegedly, the purchased aircraft will be bought at a much higher price and there are gratification involved. Deputy Minister of Defense Muhammad Herindra denied the allegations, dismissing the rumors as slanderous allegations and fake news. In response, the Ministry of Defense appointed lawyer

Hotman Paris Hutapea Hotman Paris Hutapea (born 20 October 1959) is an Indonesian lawyer, presenter, and businessman. He is known for his flamboyant style, high-profile clients, and luxurious lifestyle. Early life Hotman was born on 20 October 1959 in Laguboti, a vi ...

to lead the defense. Despite being mentioned in a report that allegedly uncovered the corruption,

Group of States against Corruption The Group of States against Corruption (, GRECO) is the Council of Europe's anti-corruption monitoring body with its headquarters in Strasbourg (France). It was established in 1999 as an enlarged partial agreement by 17 Council of Europe member ...

(GRECO) stated it had "never have done any work related to Indonesia."

Political gaffes

On 18 September 2017, at the launch of a book on his father's political economy theory, Prabowo Subianto made a speech warning Indonesia could break apart in 2030. "In other countries, they have made studies, where the Republic of Indonesia has been declared no more in 2030," he said. A video clip of the speech was posted to Gerindra's official Facebook page on 18 March 2018. When asked which studies Prabowo Subianto was referring to, Gerindra official M. Husein Mohi said, "Prabowo Subianto has read various writings of people that are outside the country, intellectual observers that exist. You can also see them online." It was subsequently revealed the "studies" were actually a 2015 science-fiction war novel called '' Ghost Fleet'' by American authors August Cole and P. W. Singer. A note by the authors at the start of the book states: "The following was inspired by real-world trends and technologies. But, ultimately, it is a work of fiction, not prediction." Bemused by Prabowo Subianto citing the book, Singer posted on Twitter: "Indonesian opposition leader cites #GhostFleet in fiery campaign speeches... There have been many unexpected twists and turns from this book experience, but this may take the cake." On November 2018, he made a controversy for a part of his campaign in Boyolali mentioning the appearance of people in Boyolali,

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

. After mentioning names of various luxury hotels in Jakarta whose name he claimed the rally can never pronounce, he said, "..but I am sure you have not entered these hotels. If you want to enter them you might be kicked out. You don't look like wealthy people, you have a Boyolali look." This has led to several Boyolali polling stations for 2019 election not voting him at all. Prabowo lost the regency again in 2024 election in spite of overall win in Central Java province. The next month, Prabowo Subianto was ridiculed after erroneously stating that Haiti, a republic in the Caribbean, is an African countries, African country. In a speech made on 23 December 2018 in Surakarta, Solo,

, Prabowo Subianto said the Indonesian government had driven part of Indonesia's wealth offshore. "If this continues to go on, Indonesia will continue to be impoverished," he said. "We, Indonesians, are on par with African impoverished countries such as Rwanda, Haiti, and small islands like Kiribati, which we don't even know where it's located," he added. On 17 January 2019, in the first debate between the candidates in Indonesia's April 2019 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto said some Indonesian governors deserve higher salaries considering the size of their provinces. He gave the example of Central Java province, which he claimed is larger than Malaysia. Local media reports pointed out that Central Java is 32,544.12 square kilometres, while Malaysia is 330,323 square kilometres. After the media reported on the error, Prabowo's campaign team claimed he had actually been referring to the population totals of Malaysia and Central Java. In the same debate, Prabowo Subianto claimed that terrorist attacks in Indonesia were caused by poverty and perpetrated by non-Muslims disguised as Muslims, sent by other countries and controlled by foreigners. Media reports refuted his claims, pointing out that some Indonesian terrorist bombers were not poor and were not manipulated by foreigners. On 12 December 2023, Prabowo went viral after his commentary about his rival Anies Baswedan on ethics by saying "''Ndasmu etik!''" (English: God damn ethics!) which is considered insulting him in an internal party congress held by Gerindra. His spokesperson later stated that it was just a joke.

Political endorsement

During the 2024 Central Java gubernatorial election, Prabowo gave his public endorsement of support to Ahmad Luthfi and Taj Yasin Maimoen through a video uploaded in Taj Yasin's Instagram account. His endorsement was slammed by the PDI-P, and Deputy Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly Bambang Wuryanto called the endorsement as "worrying" and reminded Prabowo that he is the president, not just a party leader. Many has also questioned the ethics behind the endorsement as legal experts believed that the president of Indonesia must not meddle around with legal institutions in favor of a candidate and General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) announced that they will investigate the video for any offences. However, Prabowo's endorsement was also defended as NasDem Party, NasDem politician Muhammad Rifqinizamy Karsayuda and Head of Presidential Communication Office (Indonesia), Presidential Communication Office Hasan Nasbi said that Prabowo spoke as a party chairman and there is no restrictions on presidents being a chairman of their own parties while Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Budi Gunawan states that Prabowo's endorsement is a "normal matter" in democracies. Bawaslu found that although the video featuring him did show political campaign message, their investigation result shows that he did not commit any offences because the video was posted within the social media campaign period between 25 September to 23 November, and Prabowo is allowed to campaign for his endorsed candidates as long as either he took his time off from the office or he done it on a holiday, which in Taj Yasin's clarification to Bawaslu states that the video was created on Sunday, 3 November 2024.

Alleged authoritarianism

As a president elected in 2024 and being

's son-in-law, Prabowo's leadership style was criticized for his authoritarian style of rule and allegedly revived the practice of ''Dwifungsi'', where active military personnels can cocurrently serve in the civilian government while maintaining military command. His background as a military commander rises when ''Dwifungsi'' was at its peak of power. The Reformasi that has sought to limit the influence of the military in civilian government has its values now threatened by moves to again empower the military, such as the revision of the Law No. 34 Year 2004. During his time as defense minister under

, Prabowo is considered to have restored the role of the military in many aspects of civilian life. He was known to involve the military in government programs such as the free meal program, food estate, and many other roles that is supposed to be done by the civilian sector. Few of his cabinet ministers also have military roles, which further strengthens the perception that the direction of government tends to revive New Order (Indonesia), New Order-style practices. His most controversial appointment in his cabinet however is when he appointed Teddy Indra Wijaya who was still active in the military to be his Cabinet Secretariat (Indonesia), cabinet secretary, which generate criticism from academicians and legal experts saying Prabowo has violated the Law No. 34 Year 2004 Article 47 which states that active service members of the

must resign or retire from military life if appointed or given a civilian role.

Personal life

Prabowo married Titiek Suharto on 8 May 1983. Titiek is the daughter of Indonesian President Suharto, but the couple separated shortly after Suharto's presidency ended in 1998. Prabowo saw himself as a potential successor to Suharto and remained a strong supporter of the regime. Prabowo and Titiek have one son together, fashion designer Didit Hediprasetyo, Ragowo Hediprasetyo (Didit), who was born in March 1984. Prabowo is a cat lover and owns a cat named Bobby Kertanegara. Bobby was adopted by Prabowo from the streets after a chance meeting, and he often showed up in meetings that Prabowo attended in his residence at Kertanegara. It was revealed later in a small talk with Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner that he has 8 cats. Aside from cats, he also owns 18 horses in his hill estate in Jonggol Mountains, Bojong Koneng, Bogor Regency (southeast of Sentul City), and he often invited guests to ride one of his horses, especially when Jokowi and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Gibran visited. He had once brought his horse to campaign rallies especially in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. Prabowo usually wears khaki clothes with many pockets. He himself stated that he liked this suit for practical reasons. Prabowo started wearing it frequently when he was paired with Megawati in the 2009 presidential election. In addition to Indonesian, Prabowo speaks the Banyumasan dialect of Javanese language, Javanese, his father's mother tongue, and is fluent in English language, English, Dutch language, Dutch, French language, French, and German language, German. He also has limited proficiency in Arabic, which he learned during his time in Jordan.

Religion

In an interview in 2018, Prabowo stated that he was a Muslims, Muslim who adhered to nationalist views. He added that he had insufficient knowledge about Islam. Prabowo has stated that he could not read the Quran fluently. Prabowo said that he was not born into a family steeped in Islamic teachings but grew up with his colleagues who were members of various Islamic community organizations. On 13 May 2023, Prabowo stated that he was proud to adhere to Islam, which he considers to be the pioneer in many scientific and technological breakthroughs around the world. On 19 November, he stated that he felt comfortable with adhering to Islamic beliefs from the teachings of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) because he believed that the latter advocated for a form of Islam that is tolerant, protective of society, and moderate.

Health

On 30 June 2024, Prabowo announced that he was undergoing a surgery on his left foot via his Instagram account. In his post, he explained that he had injured his left foot twice. He first injured it when he was participating in a paratrooping exercise in West Germany while he was training with GSG 9. Additionally, he experienced another foot injury when he fell down from a cliff in a combat zone in the 1980s. Prabowo, who was 30 at the time of the accident, did not experience further issues until his 2024 campaign, when he was seen walking on a limp on his left foot. This prompted rival supporters to mock his physique. Prabowo underwent a successful surgery on his left foot a week later at the National Defense Central Hospital.

Honours

National honours

President Prabowo Subianto in 2024 with decorations

Prabowo is automatically awarded the highest class of all civilian and military star decorations upon taking office as president, but he had already received several of these awards —and other awards— while serving as Ministry of Defense (Indonesia), minister of defense. * Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipurna rib

Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 1st Class – 2024 * Bintang Mahaputera Adipurna rib

Orders, decorations, and medals of Indonesia, Star of Mahaputera, 1st Class – 2024 * Bintang Mahaputera Adipradana rib

Orders, decorations, and medals of Indonesia, Star of Mahaputera, 2nd Class – 2024 * Bintang Jasa Utama rib

Star of Merit, 1st Class – 2024 * Bintang Kemanusiaan rib

Star of Humanity – 2024 * Bintang Penegak Demokrasi Utama rib

Star of Democracy Upholder, 1st Class – 2024 * Bintang Budaya Parama Dharma rib

Star of Budaya Parama Dharma – 2024 * Bintang Bhayangkara Utama rib

Star of Bhayangkara, 1st Class – 2024 * Bintang Gerilya rib

Guerilla Star – 2024 * Bintang Sakti rib

Sacred Star – 2024 * Bintang Dharma rib

Star of Dharma – 2024 * Bintang Yudha Dharma Utama rib

Star of Yudha Dharma, 1st Class – 2022 * Bintang Kartika Eka Paksi Utama rib

Star of Kartika Eka Paksi, 1st Class – 2022 * Bintang Jalasena Utama rib

Star of Jalasena, 1st Class – 2022 * Bintang Swa Bhuwana Paksa Utama rib

Star of Swa Bhuwana Paksa, 1st Class – 2022 * Star of Peace Veteran – 2023 In addition, Prabowo has also received the others awards while serving as an

officer: * Bintang Kartika Eka Paksi Pratama rib

Star of Kartika Eka Paksi, 2nd Class * Bintang Yudha Dharma Nararya

Star of Yudha Dharma, 3rd Class * Kartika Eka Paksi Nararya

Star of Kartika Eka Paksi, 3rd Class * Satyalancana Kesetiaan 24 year service

Military Long Service Medal, 24 Years * Satyalencana GOM VII

Military Operation Service Medal in Aceh * Satyalancana Dwidya Sistha

Military Instructor Service Medal * Satyalencana GOM IX

Military Operation Service Medal IX Raksaka Dharma w/ 1 service star, gold star * Satyalancana Seroja

Timor Military Campaign Medal w/ 2 service star, gold star * Satyalancana Wira Karya

Role Model Medal

Foreign honours

Other honours

Stamp of Ukraine - 2024 - President Prabowo of Indonesia

On 17 June 2009, Prabowo was declared a member of the Lumban Tobing clan of the Toba Batak people. The clan awarding was facilitated by the Punguan Siraja Lumban Tobing Association (PPSLB) and took place at the Lake Toba Convention Center, Medan. On 28 December 2011, Prabowo received the traditional title of Tongkonan from the indigenous people of Siguntu village, Rantepao, North Toraja Regency, North Toraja. The presentation of the traditional title which was accompanied by the Rambu Solo' mourning ceremony was witnessed by the Governor of South Sulawesi Syahrul Yasin Limpo, Deputy Governor of South Sulawesi Agus Arifin Nu'mang, Commander of Kodam VII/Wirabuana Major General Muhammad Nizam, Regent of Tanah Toraja Theofilus Allorerung, Regent of North Toraja Frederik Batti Sorring, along with thousands of local residents. He also received the title of Friend of Indonesian Santri from the Zainul Hasan Genggong Islamic Boarding School, Probolinggo, on 2 January 2024. On 28 February 2024, Prabowo was awarded an honorary four-star general rank by President Joko Widodo. In November 2024, Ukrposhta, Ukraine's national postal service, issued a limited-edition stamp honoring Prabowo. The initiative was spearheaded by the Ukrainian Initiative, an NGO led by Indonesianist Yurii Kosenko, who described the stamp as both a tribute to Prabowo and a symbol of Indonesia-Ukraine relations, Indonesia-Ukraine friendship.

Early life and family

Military career

Military academy and service

Role in the fall of Suharto

Dismissal from the military

Business career

Advocacy career

Farmers' rights (HKTI)

Market traders (APPSI)

Pencak silat (IPSI)

Migrant workers

Political career

Early political career

Golkar Party convention

Gerindra Party

Vice-presidential candidacy

2009 general election

Presidential candidacies

2014 general election

2019 general election

2024 general election

Minister of defense (2019–2024)

Appointment

Military

Food estate program

Foreign policy

South China Sea

United States

Russo-Ukrainian War

Gaza-Israel conflict

Education

Presidency (2024–present)

Cabinet

Economy

Defense

Defense acquisitions

Armed Forces Act reform

Foreign policy

South China Sea

Middle East

India

Health

New capital

Controversies

Internal army dispute

Occupation of East Timor

Kidnapping of activists

Paradise Papers

Mirage 2000 purchase

Political gaffes

Political endorsement

Alleged authoritarianism

Personal life

Religion

Health

Honours

National honours

Foreign honours

Other honours

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading