Prabowo Reveals Reason for Repeated Presidential Bids: Indonesia on Wrong Track Since the 90s

President Prabowo Subianto has revealed the reason behind his decision to repeatedly run for the presidency before finally being elected in the 2024 Presidential Election. Prabowo acknowledged that he had been attempting to become president since 2004 and experienced four defeats. ‘I have been trying to become president since the 2004 Golkar convention, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2024. Five times. Four times I lost. Four times defeated,’ Prabowo said during the opening of the HIPMI XVIII National Conference in Bandar Lampung on Wednesday (10/6). He admitted he often receives questions regarding his reasons for continuing to run despite repeated failures. ‘People are baffled, after losing four times you still wanted to run again? My fellow countrymen, there are analysts, you know, podcasts out there, saying Prabowo really, really wants to be president after so many attempts,’ he said. Prabowo stated that his desire to keep contesting the presidential election was because he assessed that Indonesia had been heading in the wrong direction since the 1990s. ‘My fellow countrymen, why did I want to be president? I wanted to be president because I have seen since the 90s that Indonesia was heading in the wrong direction. I saw it with my own eyes. I did not want to become president just for the sake of being president,’ he stated.