Prabowo Subianto, by any standards, has had a remarkable makeover.
The strongman Indonesian defence minister and serial election loser with a dark past is the clear frontrunner in Wednesday’s poll to choose the next president of the world’s fourth most populous and largest Muslim-majority nation, home to nearly 280 million people.
Central to the campaign is his unlikely rebranding — crafted by his strategists via Tiktok, the video-sharing app that is hugely popular in Indonesia — from irascible 72-year-old dogged by accusations of human rights violations to “cuddly” cat-loving grandfather figure performing eccentric dance routines in viral clips.
“He looks really like a cute grandfather to us,” said Nurkhasanah, 21, a Javanese college student who will vote for Prabowo this week. “I laugh out loud
