Who is Prabowo Subianto, the fiery nationalist-turned politician, likely to be Indonesia's next president?

Indonesia's Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto is set to become the country's next president after winning the election in what was his third crack at the top position. Subianto secured more than 58 per cent of the votes in the first round, effectively shutting doors on a run-off.

The much-feared former army general, who is also the former son-in-law of late strongman leader Suharto, said in a 'victory speech' that he is “grateful” the election was held peacefully and for the quick count results.

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He vowed to create a government consisting of "the best Indonesians" and said it was a victory for all Indonesian people.

Who is Subianto?

Subianto was born into a super-wealthy family but spent the majority of his formative years in exile. His father, regarded as one of the most celebrated economists of the island nation, was forced to flee after he opposed Sukarno, the country's first president.

Having shifted between Britain, Singapore and Switzerland, Subianto returned to Indonesia in 1970 and joined the army, where he rose to be part of command Kopassus - the country's elite special forces.

He married the daughter of Suharto in 1983 which helped him quickly build his wealth and connections. However, as Suharto's empire began crumbling, Subianto became involved in clandestine operations to defend his father-in-law's army-backed and repressive New Order regime against critics.

Subianto has been accused of carrying out human rights abuses in this period. According to reports, under his leadership, more than 20 student protesters were tortured, 13 of whom still remain missing. He has admitted to the abductions but denies being involved in any killings.

Despite his sketchy and blood-stained past, Subianto managed to win elections in the world’s third-largest democracy.

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How did Subianto secure the win?

Having fallen short against the incumbent President Joko Widodo, also referred to as Jokowi, in 2014 and 2019 - Subianto took the field this time with the former's son,Gibran Rakabuming Raka, an equally controversial candidate, as his running mate.

After the failed attempts in the past, Subianto rebranded himself - transforming his image from a fiery-tempered nationalist and military hardman to a cuddly grandfather figure with awkward dance moves.

This image makeover was done through 3D cartoons and TikTok videos.

In the process, he cultivated a huge following amongst the youth of the country on social media.

Notably, a little more than half of Indonesian voters are under 40, with the majority not having knowledge of Subianto's dark past.

He effectively utilised the reach of TikTok to lure young voters.

The ByteDance-owned app has a user base of over 125 million in Indonesia and has turned into the second-most used application for Indonesians, after television, which they rely on for information related to politics.

Apart from TikTok, Subianto did not shy away from using artificial intelligence to further bridge the gap between him and the voters.

During the canvassing trail, his chubby-cheeked AI-generated cartoon avatar made Korean-style finger hearts and cradled his beloved cat, Bobby, to the delight of Gen Z voters.

An amalgamation of a careful PR campaign and the covert backing of Widodo ensured that the third time was the charm for Subianto.

(With inputs from agencies)