[2] Fadli was born in Jakarta on 1 June 1971, the eldest of three children of Zon Harjo and Ellyda Yatim, both from Minangkabau in West Sumatra.

In 2002, he attended the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) under the guidance of John Harriss and Robert Wade.

While still a student, from 1990 to 1991, Fadli contributed to two Islam-oriented publications, Tabloid IQRA, which had been known for publishing derogatory statements on Hinduism, and Suara Hidayatullah magazine.

In March 1998, the MPR unanimously re-elected then-president Suharto for a seventh term, despite rising anti-government protests throughout the country.

[1][10] Hashim, Fadli and Prabowo, then a member of Golkar, formed Gerindra in December 2007 and the party participated in the 2009 elections, winning 4.46% of the votes and gaining 26 seats in parliament.

[10][11] In the 2014 elections he ran again for parliament, this time in a West Java electoral district, where he received 79,074 votes, securing himself a seat in the House of Representatives.

[13][14] Fadli frequently criticized Widodo's policies, from a ban on ministerial-level officials to speak in parliament,[15] an alleged lèse-majesté case against a satay seller,[16] to the revocation of national fuel subsidies.

Anti-corruption activists reported Fadli to the House’s ethics council, alleging he had abused his position in an effort to help Setya.

[21] In 2015, Fadli and House Speaker Setya Novanto caused controversy by attending a press conference in the United States of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The two were accused of receiving graft (in form of Trump campaign accessories, which were seized by the Corruption Eradication Commission) and of misrepresenting the position of the legislative body.

[23] On 30 March 2018, in the run-up to Indonesia's 2019 presidential election, Fadli posted on Twitter that Indomesia needed a leader like Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If you want us to rise and be victorious, Indonesia needs a leader like Vladimir Putin: brave, visionary, intelligent, wise, not too many debts, not clueless," he tweeted.

"[24] Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) official Andreas Hugo Pareira responded to Fadli's stance by suggesting that he “just move to Russia”.

"[26] On 12 March 2018, Fadli and fellow House of Representatives Deputy Chairman Fahri Hamzah were reported to Jakarta Police for allegedly spreading fake news and hate-speech on Twitter.

The report had falsely claimed the head of a fake news organization called Muslim Cyber Army was a supporter of Basuki Tjahaja 'Ahok' Purnama, the former Jakarta governor who was jailed after being convicted of insulting Islam.

[27] Gerindra responded by saying it was ready to provide Fadli with legal assistance and called on police to be fair in handling the case.

His sentiments were recorded in an interview conducted by Margot Cohen of Far Eastern Economic Review, published in February 1998: Fadli Zon has a vision.

The former student activist imagines his countrymen cycling slowly down Jakarta's Jalan Thamrin, a central boulevard normally choked with cars.

To Fadli, a rising young thinker and editor, "them" refers to Indonesia's tiny ethnic-Chinese minority, which he holds responsible for the country's deepening economic crisis.

Time for the 87% Muslim majority to seize the reins of an economy from a community that accounts for a mere 3% of the country's 200 million people.

[30]In May 1998, Jakarta was hit by deadly mass riots in which the ethnic Chinese were targeted and dozens of females were raped and some murdered.

[35] According to the Indonesian World Records Museum (MURI), it is the country's largest private library and also includes Indonesia's "most complete" coin and stamp collections.