He cofounded the Gerindra Party in 2008 and as its chairman (2014-present), he made two unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 2014 and 2019.

Prabowo accepted his party’s nomination on Aug. 12, 2022 to run for a third time. He registered as a presidential candidate on Oct. 25, 2023, with the backing of the Gerindra-led Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), which groups several pro-government parties of the ruling coalition.

What is his background?

Prabowo was born in Jakarta on Oct. 17, 1951, the third of four children to one of the most powerful families in Indonesia. His father, Soemitro Djojohadikusumo, was a prominent economist and politician who held several ministerial posts under presidents Sukarno and Soeharto. His mother, Dona Marie Siregar, was a housewife who studied surgical nursing in the Netherlands.

His grandfather, Margono Djojohadikusumo, was the founder of Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and the first head of the Supreme Advisory Council, which was disbanded in 2003.

Prabowo spent most of his childhood overseas due to his father's involvement in the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PRRI), which was set up in 1958 in opposition to the Sukarno administration. As a result, Prabowo is fluent in French, German, English and Dutch.

Prabowo joined the military, then called the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), shortly after he graduated from the Armed Forces Academy (AKABRI) in 1974. He served with ABRI for 28 years before he was dishonorably discharged following the collapse of Soeharto’s New Order regime in 1998.

He married Soeharto’s daughter Siti Hediati Hariyadi in 1983, but they separated soon after the autocratic president’s ouster. The couple have a son, Ragowo “Didit” Hediprasetyo Djojohadikusumo, a fashion designer based in Paris, France.

He returned to Indonesia in 2001 from self-exile in Jordan and followed in the footsteps of his businessman brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo. Prabowo set up pulp and paper company Nusantara Energy and later founded the Nusantara Group, a conglomerate with businesses in the palm oil, coal and gas, mining, agriculture and fishery industries.

He tried his luck but failed at the Golkar Party national convention in 2004 to select a presidential nominee. Four years later, he cofounded Gerindra and was nominated as the running mate of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Soekarnoputri’s presidential bid in 2009, but also lost.

He was elected as Gerindra chairman in 2014.

What does he stand for?

As a member of the ruling class, Prabowo was in a privileged position to pursue his dreams. He had an illustrious military career before it came to an abrupt end in 1998.

Just two years after he joined the Army, Prabowo was recruited into the Sandhi Yudha division of Kopassandha (Special Forces Command), the precursor to the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus). He was sent to then-East Timor in 1976 to quell the secessionist movement there.

Prabowo became commander to the airborne infantry battalion of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in 1987 after completing a Special Forces Officer Course at Fort Benning in the United States.

He returned to the Army’s special forces in 1993 to lead a unit running clandestine operations and eventually became Kopassus general commander in 1996. In March 1998, Prabowo was appointed as Kostrad commander, a position previously held by Soeharto, his former father-in-law.

Prabowo was removed from this position soon after Soeharto stepped down in May 1998 and vice president BJ Habibie was elevated to the presidency, due to an alleged attempt to launch a coup without the knowledge of ABRI chief Wiranto.

In July 1998, ABRI formed an Officers Ethics Council (DKP) to investigate Prabowo. The DKP eventually decided to dishonorably discharge Prabowo due to a number of actions he carried out, which the council deemed demonstrated his insubordination and disregard for the military code.

He and other members of Kopassus were banned from traveling to the US over the alleged human rights abuses they committed against the people of Timor-Leste. This ban lasted until 2022, when it was effectively lifted so Prabowo could visit the US as Indonesia’s defense minister.

During his 2019 presidential campaign, Prabowo courted the support of some hard-line Muslim groups against the reelection bid of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who was seen as a pluralist leader. The strategy resulted in a highly polarizing election that divided the Indonesian public and led to the post-election riots in Jakarta, in which at least eight people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes with police.

What does he bring to the table?

Prabowo is the wealthiest of all the 2024 presidential candidates. As of March 31, 2023, he is valued at over Rp 2 trillion (US$ 128 million).

Prabowo has proven his resilience in national politics. After losing in the last round of the 2004 Golkar convention to his former commander Wiranto, Prabowo set up Gerindra with his brother, former student activist Fadli Zon and former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy Muchdi Purwoprandjono.

As running mate to former president Megawati in her 2009 election bid, the pair lost to incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was on the DKP when it issued Prabowo’s dishonorable discharge.

Despite the loss in 2009, Prabowo's rising popularity helped propel Gerinda's electability within a relatively short time. The party secured 11.81 percent of total votes in the 2014 general election to come in third, behind the PDI-P and Golkar.

In the 2014 election, Prabowo lost to then-Jakarta governor Jokowi with a margin of 6.35 percentage points. He filed an unsuccessful lawsuit with the Constitutional Court alleging “massive and systemic” election fraud, which was dismissed.

He tried to make another bid for the presidency in 2019, with then-Jakarta deputy governor Sandiaga Uno as his running mate, and lost with a margin of 11 points. Prabowo supporters took to the city’s streets to protest the election result, which turned violent. He again filed a lawsuit with the court alleging widespread vote rigging, but his claim was again rejected.

Following the bitterly contested election, Jokowi offered Prabowo the post of defense minister in an effort to bring Gerindra into the cabinet: The party had secured 12.5 percent of votes to become the second largest party in the country.

Prabowo took the offer and subsequently buried the hatchet with Jokowi, reinventing himself and basking in the coattail-effect of supporting the President.

But he still cuts a polarizing figure because of his military record.

Prabowo was reportedly sent back to East Timor in 1983, during which he was allegedly involved in the Kraras massacre, although he has repeatedly denied this.

As Kopassus commander, Prabowo was allegedly involved in the forced disappearances of pro-democracy activists between 1997 and 1998 amid growing resistance to the Soeharto regime. He has denied the allegations, but his subordinates at the time were convicted and sentenced to prison.

Prabowo also has been accused of engineering the May 1998 riots in Jakarta and several other large cities, allegedly in an attempt to urge the Soeharto regime to declare martial law. No legal actions have been taken against Prabowo over this allegation.