Prabowo Subianto, chairman of the Gerindra Party's Advisory Council. TEMPO/Dasril Roszandi.
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Prabowo Subianto, Presidential candidate from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), compares himself to a famous South African figure Nelson Mandela during the interview with international television station Al Jazeera.
Prabowo mentioned Nelson Mandela when Al Jazeera reporter Veronica Pedrosa asked him about his past records, which made him one of the individuals blacklisted by the United States.
"Nelson Mandela was also blacklisted from the United States at one time, am I not in good company?" Prabowo said, which was immediately interrupted by Pedrosa. "But you're not Nelson Mandela."
"Yes, but Nelson Mandela was also blacklisted by the US," Prabowo said repeating his statement. He also insisted that the United States knows that he is not involved in any crimes he was accused for committing in the past.
Prabowo and four other army generals were known to be banned from entering the US only after they were banned from joining the Indonesian President's visit to the US in 2010.
