TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Prabowo Subianto has been officially declared elected President of Indonesia for 2024-2029 by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

The chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) will become the oldest president of the Republic of Indonesia when he takes office on Sunday, October 20 at the age of 73.

Previously, the title of Indonesia's oldest president at inauguration was held by Bacharuddin Jusuf or BJ Habibie. He officially assumed the presidency as the third President of Indonesia in 1998 at the age of 61 (born on June 25, 1936).

Meanwhile, Prabowo was born on October 17, 1951 in Jakarta. He is the son of Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, an economist, and Dora Sigar.

Prabowo's political career journey in the presidential election contest in 2004.

At that time, he declared himself as the Golkar Party's presidential candidate at the Golkar Capres Convention in 2004. Although he qualified, he lost the votes to Wiranto.

Subsequently, it was planned that Prabowo would be nominated by Gerindra to run as a presidential candidate in the general election or Pemilu 2009.

However, after intense negotiations, he agreed to become Megawati Soekarnoputri's running mate. Unfortunately, they were defeated by the pair of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Boediono.

In the 2014 presidential election, Prabowo tried his luck again by running for president with Hatta Rajasa. However, they could not surpass the number of votes received by the duo of Joko Widodo or Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla (JK).

After that, Prabowo again registered as a presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential election with Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno as his running mate. However, Prabowo again lost to Jokowi, who was then paired with Ma'ruf Amin.

Next, in the 2024 presidential election, Prabowo ran with Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of his rival in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections.

Gibran's candidacy for vice president sparked controversy following the Constitutional Court ruling Number 90/PUU-XXI/2023, which allowed presidential and vice presidential candidates to be aged 40 years or have experience as regional leaders.

Meanwhile, BJ Habibie was inaugurated as the 3rd President of Indonesia on Thursday, May 21, 1998. Habibie, who was the 7th Vice President of Indonesia at the time, succeeded Soeharto, who resigned from the presidency of the 2nd President of Indonesia.

According to the website of the General Directorate of Culture, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek), the inauguration of BJ Habibie as president sparked various controversies. For the proponents, the appointment was constitutional.

The reason for this view is Article 8 of the 1945 Constitution, which states that "if the President dies, resigns, or is unable to perform his duties during his term, he shall be replaced by the Vice President until the end of the term".

On the other hand, opponents argued that BJ Habibie's inauguration was unconstitutional because it contradicted Article 9 of the 1945 Constitution, which says, "Before assuming office, the President must take an oath or pledge before the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) or the People's Representative Council (DPR)."

Age of Indonesian Presidents when Inaugurated 

Summarized from various sources, here are the details of the ages of Indonesian presidents from past to present when inaugurated:

- Sukarno: 44 years.

- Soeharto: 45 years.

- BJ Habibie: 61 years.

- Abdurrahman Wahid or Gus Dur: 59 years.

- Megawati Soekarnoputri: 54 years.

- SBY: 55 years.

- Jokowi: 53 years.

- Prabowo: 73 years 3 days (when inaugurated on October 20, 2024).

Muhammad Rafi Azhari contributed to the writing of this article.

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