Indonesian President Joko Widodo has come under growing criticism over allegations of interference in the upcoming election as the country prepares to hold the world’s largest single-day vote.
More than 200 million people are eligible to vote in Indonesia’s elections on Wednesday, which will elect the country’s next president and future executive and legislative representatives at all levels of government.
Prabowo Subianto, 72, a former army general and current defense minister, is leading in opinion polls. In the survey, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo are trailing behind.
Critics claim Mr Prabowo’s campaign has unfairly benefited from the funding and support of the president, also known as Jokowi.
The presidential office denies that Mr. Jokowi interfered in the vote, and he has not explicitly supported Mr. Prabowo. However, the defense minister is running on a joint ticket with Jokowi’s son and vice-presidential candidate Gibran Rakabumin Raka, following a controversial ruling by the Constitutional Court, headed by his uncle Anwar Usman. This arrangement was made possible only after a legal loophole was created.
Mr Jokowi is accused of using his influence and government resources to back Mr Prabowo, who has promised to continue his policies. “Dirty Vote,” a documentary directed by Dandi Laksono, a prominent Indonesian investigative journalist, and which accuses Jokowi of using state officials and funds to support Prabowo’s campaign, went viral after its release on Sunday. It went viral and was viewed millions of times.
Prabowo campaign deputy chairman Habi Brokman said the documentary was defamatory, “very hypothetical and very unscientific.”
Prabowo, a former special commander, is a controversial figure beset by allegations of human rights abuses. He was fired from the military in 1997 and 1998 for his role in the kidnapping and torture of democracy activists, and has been accused of rights abuses in Papua and East Timor. Prabowo has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged in connection with the allegations.
Hundreds of students and activists staged a protest on Monday, accusing Mr. Jokowi of abusing his power to support Mr. Prabowo’s campaign. According to Reuters, students gathered in Yogyakarta on Java island, banging bamboo instruments and holding posters with slogans such as “Jokowi and his cronies will be brought to justice”.
Mohammad Waffa Karisma, a researcher at the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the election tested “the limits of democracy.”
He added that Jokowi’s support for Prabowo has had a major impact on Prabowo’s campaign. “Jokowi had high approval ratings and was a popular figure even during the coronavirus pandemic, when many governments and countries are under pressure from the public,” he said.
Indonesia’s president is allowed to campaign for future candidates, but is prohibited from using state funds to do so, and it is unusual for an outgoing leader to do so.
Polls show Prabowo with a wide lead, and a poll released last week predicted he could secure more than 50% of the vote needed for victory on Wednesday. A candidate also needs to receive at least 20% of the vote in at least half of the country’s 38 states. Otherwise, voting will proceed to the second round.
Prabowo, who has projected a softer image in recent years, is running for president for the third time after losing to Jokowi in 2014 and 2019.
Professor Burhanuddin Muftadi, executive director of Indonesia’s independent polling organization Indicator Politics Indonesia, said support for Mr Prabowo continues to grow, but there is still a chance the vote will advance to a second round. Stated.
He said turnout, especially among young voters, would be a key factor.
“A reasonably high turnout among young voters would certainly help Mr. Prabowo win the election outright in just one vote. If the turnout among young voters is significantly low, especially Mr. Anies and Mr. Ganjar. “This will be a significant challenge if there is a high turnout of voters,” he added.
