Prabowo: I Wanted to Become President Because I Saw Indonesia Heading in the Wrong Direction in the '90s

President Prabowo Subianto has revealed his reason for wanting to become President. Prabowo recounted that this determination emerged after he saw Indonesia beginning to move in a wrong direction since the 1990s. “Why did I want to become President? I wanted to become President because I saw that in the ’90s, Indonesia was heading in the wrong direction, I already saw it,” Prabowo said during his address at the 18th National Conference of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi) in Lampung on Wednesday (10/6/2026). Prabowo stated that his decision to become a national leader was not solely to attain a position. The Gerindra Party chairman admitted he had long harboured concerns about the nation’s trajectory. “I didn’t want to become President just to be President, do you think it’s easy,” he said. Prabowo revealed that the biggest challenge of being President comes from dynamics among the elite. Prabowo said that commotion erupts among elite circles, not among the common people. “Because sometimes our elite society, this elite is truly ruthless. But almost all of the nation’s elite, like us, are constantly bickering, the elite bicker, the people do not,” said the former Minister of Defence. Prabowo believes that the people understand the need for a harmonious life and cooperation—a life of complementing each other, not clashing. “The people understand best that to have a good life, there must be harmony, there must be community spirit, there must be cooperation, there must be mutual support, not striking at each other,” he said.