- Indonesia election counting underway
- Prabowo Subianto leads race
- Youth voters highly influential
Counting is currently underway in Indonesia, where millions of voters have participated in the election to select a successor to Jokowi, the immensely popular President Joko Widodo, who is constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third term.
Prabowo Subianto, the only general in the history of the nation’s armed forces to receive a dishonourable discharge, is the frontrunner.
Prabowo, a 72-year-old former adversary of Widodo in their last two elections who subsequently became his defence minister, has spent the last two months of his campaign attempting to soften his strongman image.
A cartoon depicting him as a “cuddly grandpa” and Jokowi’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, serving as his running mate following last year’s contentious Constitutional Court ruling on age limits, have both aided him.
Although the president has not officially endorsed the duo, their candidature for office has been bolstered by his unofficial support.
Greg Fealy, an emeritus professor at the Australian National University and an authority on Indonesian politics, said, “Jokowi is the person most significant not running for office in this campaign.
“Jokowi’s extraordinary popularity, as evidenced by his approval rating of over 80 percent, primarily benefits Prabowo.”
Election Day: Hope Amid Challenges
Anies Baswedan, a former governor of Jakarta and academic turned education minister, and Ganjar Pranowo, the governor of Central Java, are the other candidates. Both are members of Jokowi’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which was parliament’s largest party in 2014 and 2019.
Voting generally proceeded without incident, despite the temporary closure of a few polling stations and the inundation of certain areas caused by heavy overnight precipitation.
Following the completion of his vote casting in Bogor, Western Java, Prabowo was buoyant.
He asserted, “Blessings accompany rain.” “I sincerely hope that all goes smoothly. We eagerly anticipate the outcomes.”
Anies, who cast her ballot in South Jakarta, seemingly alluded to apprehensions regarding the ongoing prevalence of vote purchasing and the potential for civil unrest. Prabowo confronted Jokowi’s triumph and two days of violent unrest in 2019.
He stated, “I wish to emphasise that we desire elections that are honest and fair, and that the community accepts the results as well.”
Youthful electors
For Valentine’s Day, in a nation that regards election day as a “festival of democracy,” certain polling stations were adorned with hearts in shades of pink and red.
Electorate lines animated the scene. More than eighty percent of eligible voters participated in the most recent election in 2019.
On the island of Bali, in the coastal town of Sanur, Gunghar, age 18, was casting his first ballot.
As he cast his ballot, his heart “pounded,” he said.
“Young people in Indonesia desire significant change,” he said, declining to specify which candidate he supported. “We aspire for Indonesia to be the nation with the greatest global influence.”
Youth electors comprise slightly more than half of the total electorate and are anticipated to exert a significant influence on the outcome.
Marcellina Pujowati expressed concern in Jakarta regarding the unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 percent, which is right at 20 percent.
“The employment situation is the most important factor for us young voters right now, when it is so difficult to find work,” she said.
Marcellina said prior to submitting her ballot that she desired a president who would “improve Indonesia” by addressing the nation’s political and economic challenges.
Voting for the first time was 20-year-old Maria Jessica Fernanda Santoso in Beijing.
She said that Prabowo and Gibran presented the greatest opportunity for a continuation of Jokowi’s policies, which influenced her decision to support them.
She said, “I believe it is crucial to continue and complete the milestones that President Jokowi has accomplished during his administration.” “I am certain that [Prabowo-Gibran] is capable of carrying out these endeavours more effectively.”
As have the PDI-Ps Ganjar, both have pledged to advance Jokowi’s contentious proposal to relocate the nation’s capital to a location on the island of Borneo. In contrast, many consider Anies a reform candidate, and he has declared his intention to halt the progress.
Civil society organisations and students have expressed concern regarding Prabowo’s troubled past.
The 72-year-old, who previously commanded the special forces of Kopassus, is the only candidate who has connections to the authoritarian regime of former leader Soeharto, whom he once belittled.
His dishonourable discharge occurred in 1998 subsequent to the abduction and torture of Soeharto’s political adversaries by Kopassus soldiers. Thirteen of the twenty-two activists abducted that year remain unaccounted for. And while Prabowo evaded legal scrutiny, the courts convicted a number of his subordinates after they stood trial.
Additionally, he has faced allegations of human rights violations in East Timor and Papua, Indonesia’s troubled eastern region, both of which gained independence from Indonesia following the regime changeover of Soeharto.
Despite this, the majority of Indonesian electors appeared unconcerned.
According to Ben Bland, the Asia Pacific programme director at Chatham House in London, this likely signifies the increasing trust that Indonesians have in their democratic system and the capacity of its institutions to restrain a president with an autocratic inclination.
The “tendency in Indonesia for grand coalitions” to form subsequent to elections, thereby further limiting the authority of a president, was also mentioned during an online election discussion last week.
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“Whoever emerges victorious will seek to form a large tent coalition,” he predicted.
As the tally continues, all eyes will focus on the 50 percent threshold required to prevent a run-off in June.
Prior to a decade ago, Jokowi and Prabowo were fierce adversaries. With the presence of Jokowi’s son, Prabowo seems to be in an unprecedented position to win the presidency.
“It is a remarkable turn of events. A third attempt might prove successful for Prabowo.”
