New Indonesian president's Malaysian connection

Prabowo (left) addressing supporters after polls closed in the country’s presidential and legislative elections in Jakarta on Wednesday. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP)

JAKARTA: An alumni of Kuala Lumpur’s prestigious Victoria Institution (VI) is set to be Indonesia’s eight president.

Quick counts showed that Prabowo Subianto was leading with more than 58% of votes against the two rivals in Wednesday’s (Feb 14) Indonesian presidential election.

Opponents, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, are trailing with about 25% and 17%, respectively.

Prabowo must claim more than 50% of the overall vote and at least a fifth of ballots cast in over half the country’s 38 provinces to replace President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who has reached his two-term limit.

Prabowo had lost to Jokowi in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections.

The 72-year-old Gerindra president studied at VI in Jalan Hang Tuah from 1962 to 1964.

In an official visit to Malaysia as Defence Minister in November 2019, Prabowo said it was like coming home.

“It is like pulang ke kampung (returning home) for me. Kuala Lumpur reminds me of my younger days where I went to school and grew up here,” the Defence Minister told the media.

Prabowo’s late father, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, intermittently held ministerial positions under Presidents Sukarno and Suharto between 1950 and 1978.

Sumitro was in political exile from differences with Sukarno in the 1960s in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Prabowo’s mother is the late Dora Maria Sigar, a Christian of Minahasan descent from Sulawesi.

The former three-star general was married to Titiek Suharto, Suharto’s second daughter.

The divorced couple has a son, Didit Hediprasetyo, a fashion designer living in Paris and Jakarta.

Prabowo is a “Datuk Seri”, a title he received from Melaka Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Rustam in 2022.

In an Instagram post, the Defence Minister thanked Mohd Ali for the “Darjah Gemilang Seri Melaka, which comes with the title Datuk Seri”.