Edhy Prabowo (born 24 December 1972) is an Indonesian politician from the

Great Indonesia Movement Party The Gerindra Party (acronym for , ) is a political party in Indonesia. Formed in 2008, Gerindra serves as the political vehicle of former general Prabowo Subianto. It is presently the third-largest party in the House of Representatives, where it ...

(Gerindra). He served as Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries from October 2019 until his arrest for alleged corruption in November 2020. He has served as Chairperson of Commission IV of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and was chair of the Gerindra Faction there from 2014–2019.

Background

Edhy joined the

Indonesian military , founded = as the ('People's Security Forces') , current_form = , disbanded = , branches = , headquarters = Cilangkap, Jakarta , website = , commander-in-chief = Joko Widodo ...

in 1991 but was expelled after only 2 years. After this, he relocated to

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

and ended up becoming acquainted with future Indonesian presidential candidate

Prabowo Subianto Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman and former army lieutenant general who is the currently-appointed Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia. He is the son of Sumitro Djojoh ...

. The men became close, and Subianto paid for Edhy to get a degree in education as well as to study martial arts (

silat is the collective term for a class of indigenous martial arts from the Nusantara and surrounding geocultural areas of Southeast Asia. It is traditionally practised in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Southern Philip ...

). Edhy Prabowo's public profile during the 1990s was mostly linked to his career as a martial arts athlete. He graduated with a degree from the Economics department at the University of Prof. Dr. Moestopo in Jakarta in 1997. He accompanied Subianto abroad when he was stationed in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and followed him into politics when he founded the Gerindra party. Later he continued his education and got a master's degree in management from Swiss German University in

Tangerang Tangerang (Sundanese: , ) is a city in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Located on the western border of Jakarta, it is the third largest urban centre in the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area after Jakarta and Bekasi; the sixth largest city pro ...

in 2004.

Career

Edhy began his political career in 2005 by joining the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI), becoming the chair of its Education and Training Division by 2007. Also in 2007, Edhy founded a security services company, PT Garuda Security Nusantara, where he served as president director. In the same year, he became a commissioner of PT Kiani Lestari Jakarta, a paper company owned by his patron, Prabowo Subianto. After Prabowo Subianto founded Gerindra Party in 2008, Edhy ran as a candidate for the party and was elected to the House of Representatives for the 2009-2014 term, representing the South Sumatra I electoral district. He was re-elected for the 2014-2019 term, during which he headed the House's Commission IV. Edhy was re-elected for the 2019-2024 term, though after Prabowo Subianto failed to win the presidency in 2019, Indonesian President Joko Widodo included some Gerindra members in his cabinet including

and Edhy, who was appointed Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries on 23 October 2019. Edhy was arrested on 25 November 2020 by the

Corruption Eradication Commission Corruption Eradication Commission ( id, Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi), abbreviated as KPK, is an Indonesian government agency established to prevent and fight corruption in the country. Firli Bahuri, an active police general, is the current cha ...

for allegedly receiving bribes in connection with the awarding of export licenses for lobster larvae. His wife was also arrested in connection with the case. A day after his arrest, Edhy resigned from his ministerial position. On 15 July 2021, Edhy was sentenced to five years in prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edhy Prabowo Great Indonesia Movement Party politicians 1972 births Living people Government ministers of Indonesia Members of the People's Representative Council, 2009 Members of the People's Representative Council, 2014 People from Muara Enim Regency Onward Indonesia Cabinet Indonesian politicians convicted of corruption