Politics
Using Prabowo's connections to President Suharto, he and his brother worked to silencing journalistic and political critics in the 1990s. Hasyim unsuccessfully pressured Goenawan Mohamad to sell his outspoken and banned Tempo magazine to him. As lieutenant colonel, Prabowo invited Gus Dur to his battalion headquarters in 1992 and warned him to stick to religion and to stay out of politics, or face unspecific actions if 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, and which armed forces commander Feisel Tanjung had denounced as "obviously unconstitutional".
In 2004, Prabowo ran for the Golkar party's Presidential candidacy. He made it to the last round at the party's Presidential Convention, however, he was beaten by Wiranto. In early 2008, Prabowo's inner circle, including Fadli Zon established the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) which nominated Prabowo for 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 vice presidential candidate to Megawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's first president Sukarno. The pair, referred to colloquially by the Indonesian media as Mega–Pro, earned 27% of the vote and lost to incumbent President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate, economist Boediono. In November 2011, Prabowo said he will run in the 2014 presidential elections. He has a lead in some surveys including one published by the Center for Policy Studies and Strategic Development (Puskaptis) and by the Indonesian Survey Institute published on 23 February 2012. Observers and activists cast doubt on the results and criticized the pollsters. In March 2012, the Great Indonesia Movement Party named Prabowo their 2014 presidential candidate. As of then, the party's slogan was changed to Gerindra Menang Prabowo Presiden (Gerindra Wins, Prabowo Becomes President)
| Poll source | Date | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Institute for Strategic and Public Policy Research (Inspire) | 26 March – 3 April 2011 | Anas Urbaningrum 38.7%, Hamengkubuwana X 35.7%, Prabowo Subianto 35.4%, Hidayat Nur Wahid 32.2%, Mahfud MD 25.9%, Surya Paloh 23.4%, Aburizal Bakrie 22.3%, Puan Maharani 16.7%, Kristiani Herawati 15.9%, Sri Mulyani Indrawati 14.7% |
| Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicate (SSS) | 3–8 October 2011 | Prabowo Subianto 28%, Mahfud MD 10.6%, Sri Mulyani Indrawati 7.4%, Aburizal Bakrie 6.8%, Said Akil Siradj 6%, Din Syamsuddin 5,2%, Pramono Edhie Wibowo 4,2%, Jusuf Kalla 4,0%, Djoko Suyanto 3,2%, Hatta Rajasa 2,8%, Surya Paloh 2,5%. |
| Jaringan Suara Indonesia (JSI) | 10–15 October 2011 | Megawati Soekarnoputri 19,6%, Prabowo Subianto 10,8%, Aburizal Bakrie 8,9%, Wiranto 7,3%, Hamengkubuwana X 6,5%, Hidayat Nur Wahid 3,8%, Surya Paloh 2,3%, Sri Mulyani Indrawati 2,0%, Kristiani Herawati 1,6%, Hatta Rajasa 1,6%, Anas Urbaningrum 1,5%, Sutanto 0,2%, Djoko Suyanto 0,2%. |
| Reform Institute | October 2011 | Aburizal Bakrie 13.58%, Prabowo Subianto 8.46%, Jusuf Kalla 7.06%, Hidayat Nur Wahid 5.17%, Kristiani Herawati 4.13%. |
| Center for Policy Studies and Strategic Development (Puskaptis) | 22 January – 2 February 2012 | Prabowo Subianto 16.4%, Hatta Rajasa 14,6%, Aburizal Bakrie 13.5%, Megawati Soekarnoputri 13%, Akbar Tandjung 12,7%. |
| Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) | 1–12 February 2012 | Megawati Soekarnoputri 22.2%, Prabowo Subianto 16.8%, Aburizal Bakrie 10.9%, Wiranto 10,6%, Hatta Rajasa 5,4%, other names 10.3%, undecided voters 23.8%. |
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