Indonesia’s Prabowo registers in three-way 2024 presidential race
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Indonesia's Defence Minister and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto (left), along with his running mate, Mr Gibran Rakabuming Raka, speak to journalists before registering themselves for next year's presidential election.
PHOTO: REUTERS
JAKARTA – Indonesia’s Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, Mr Gibran Rakabuming Raka, registered on Wednesday for next year’s presidential election, setting the stage for a three-way race that the former military commander is tipped to win.
Nearly 205 million Indonesians, a third of them younger than 30, are eligible to vote in presidential and legislative elections to be held on Feb 14 in the world’s third-largest democracy.
Thousands of cheering supporters met Mr Prabowo, 72, and Mr Gibran, 36, the elder son of outgoing President Joko Widodo, as they handed their credentials and manifesto to election officials in the capital Jakarta.
“We’re ready to go forward with our programmes, visions to continue development so that Indonesia can be an advanced and prosperous country,” said Mr Prabowo.
He is contesting the presidency for the third time after narrowly losing in 2014 and 2019 to Mr Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, who cannot run again because of term limits.
In an election manifesto obtained by Reuters, Mr Prabowo pledged to continue construction of Indonesia’s new capital city on the island of Borneo and to further develop downstream industries – among Mr Widodo’s key policies.
He will also seek to achieve self-sufficiency in food, water and energy, while establishing a state revenue agency and looking to boost to 23 per cent the ratio of state revenues to gross domestic product, the document showed, without giving details.
Mr Prabowo, a former special forces chief, has a narrow lead in opinion surveys over the other two contenders: former provincial governor Ganjar Pranowo and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan.
An Oct 2-10 survey by pollster Indikator Politik released last Friday showed 37 per cent of 4,300 respondents backed Mr Prabowo, while Mr Ganjar had 35 per cent and Mr Anies had 22 per cent. Nearly 7 per cent were undecided.
Mr Prabowo and Mr Gibran signed up on the last day of the registration period after days of political manoeuvring and public outrage over a last-minute court decision on eligibility criteria that allowed Mr Widodo’s son, a relative newcomer on the political scene, to run.
Mr Prabowo’s decision to partner Mr Gibran could benefit from the President’s massive support base, analysts say.
But activists and analysts have raised concerns over what they see as Mr Widodo’s attempts to retain influence after leaving office.
Analysts say Mr Prabowo, once disgraced due to a murky human rights record, has now cultivated a persona that is more charismatic statesman than fiery, pious nationalist to appeal to a younger voter base.
Earlier on Wednesday, at a stadium packed with supporters, Mr Gibran, who is mayor of Surakarta city, said their ticket would roll out loans for digital start-ups and continue development of the mineral-processing industry and green economy.
“We all believe that the existing programmes have brought Indonesia into the gate of advancement,” he said.
“Our duty is to continue and perfect programmes related to youth, millennial generation, Gen Z.”
The pair have yet to reveal details of their policy platform. REUTERS
