He took advantage of TikTok and won the election

He was a commander of the Indonesian special forces during the dictatorship (1966 – 1998) and son-in-law of the Indonesian dictator, Suharto. He was discharged 25 years ago from the army accused of involvement in the disappearances of pro-democracy activists. After the fall of Suharto, he became active in democratic politics, but without much electoral success. He twice lost the battle for the presidency, in 2014 and 2019, to the outgoing and highly popular Joko Widodo, or “Jokowi” as he is better known. His third attempt was, as it seems, also the lucky one.