Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman, and retired military officer currently serving as the eighth president of Indonesia. He assumed office on October 20, 2024, following a successful campaign in the 2024 presidential election. His rise to the presidency represents the culmination of a decades-long career that has spanned the military, private sector, and national politics, marking him as one of the most significant and polarizing figures in contemporary Indonesian history. Born in Jakarta, Prabowo came from a prominent and politically influential family. His father, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, was a renowned economist who served as a cabinet minister under both presidents Sukarno and Suharto. Due to his father’s involvement in the PRRI-Permesta rebellion against the Sukarno administration, Prabowo spent much of his childhood in exile, attending international schools in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. He eventually returned to Indonesia and enrolled in the Indonesian Military Academy in Magelang in 1970, graduating in 1974. Prabowo’s military career was defined by his long service in the Special Forces (Kopassus), where he gained a reputation as a disciplined and assertive officer. In the 1970s and 1980s, he participated in various military operations, including deployments to East Timor, where he rose to become the youngest commander of a Nanggala unit. He received training in the United States at Fort Bragg and Fort Benning and also underwent anti-terrorism training in Germany. By 1998, he had reached the rank of lieutenant general and was serving as the commander of the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad). However, this period also brought intense controversy; Prabowo has been the subject of long-standing allegations regarding human rights abuses, including the kidnapping and torture of pro-democracy student activists during the final days of the Suharto regime and allegations of involvement in operations in East Timor and Papua. Following the collapse of the Suharto government in 1998, Prabowo was discharged from the military, a decision tied to these investigations. Following his military discharge, Prabowo pursued a career in business before entering politics in 2004. He initially sought the presidential nomination of the Golkar Party but failed to secure it. In 2008, he co-founded the Gerindra Party, which served as his primary political vehicle. He made his first national foray as a vice-presidential candidate alongside Megawati Sukarnoputri in the 2009 election, an unsuccessful bid. He subsequently contested the presidency in 2014 and 2019, both times losing to Joko Widodo. Despite the bitterness of these electoral contests, Prabowo joined the Joko Widodo administration in 2019 as the Minister of Defence, a position he held until his inauguration as president in 2024. Prabowo’s 2024 presidential campaign, in which he paired with Gibran Rakabuming Raka—the eldest son of his predecessor, Joko Widodo—was successful, with his coalition securing a decisive victory in the first round. Sworn in on October 20, 2024, at age 73, he became the oldest person to assume the Indonesian presidency. His administration has focused on themes of national self-sufficiency and economic development. Throughout his transition from a military general to a democratic leader, his career has remained marked by the duality of his military past—often cited by human rights organizations—and his enduring popularity as a nationalist leader. Personally, Prabowo was married to Siti Hediati Hariyadi, the daughter of former president Suharto, with whom he has one son, Didit Hediprasetyo; the couple later divorced.