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Singapore: It’s fair to say age is all the rage as election season kicks off in Indonesia.
This week the Constitutional Court triggered controversy by clearing the barrier for candidates under 40 to run for the presidency and vice presidency in next February’s polls if they’ve held public office before, opening the way for the son of outgoing leader Joko Widodo to be on a ticket.
Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto has emerged as the frontrunner to succeed Joko Widodo, who defeated him in the 2014 and 2019 elections.Credit: Reuters
On Monday, the court will deliver a judgment in Jakarta that could have even greater ramifications for the country’s political landscape when it rules on a proposal to impose an upper age limit of 70 for aspiring presidents.
The decision has direct consequences for presidential frontrunner Prabowo Subianto, Widodo’s vanquished rival in the 2014 and 2019 elections who was later made defence minister in the president’s cabinet.
The former general and son-in-law of late strongman Suharto is mounting a third and likely final tilt at the office he has long sought.
In what would have seemed unthinkable five years ago and reflects the turbulence within the political elite, it’s rumoured that Subianto will do so with the backing of his old adversary. And even perhaps with the president’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his running mate.
Indonesia’s President Jokowi (left) and his son Gibran Rakabuming Raka greet supporters in 2019.Credit: AP
Having turned 72 this week, however, the court outcome could technically render him ineligible.
Ian Wilson, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Murdoch University’s Asia Research Centre, believes the application to the court to introduce a maximum age of 70 for candidates is part of a pre-election counterstrike by Subianto’s enemies in the largest political party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, known by its Indonesian acronym PDIP.
Led by Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of the country’s first president, Sukarno, it was the party behind the elevation of former furniture salesman Widodo a decade ago. But there has been speculation that the president may switch sides and back Subianto in an effort to maintain influence after he leaves office.
“It seems likely [the judicial review] will be rejected,” Wilson said. “But who knows in Indonesia? The prospect of it is pretty dramatic.
“It would be hard to know what would happen after that. It would rupture Prabowo’s long obsessed-over goal of becoming president. It’s his last chance and his coalition would be left out in the cold at the last minute.”
The Constitutional Court, which is presided over by Widodo’s brother-in-law, will rule on two other submissions which are also aimed squarely at Subianto.
One submission asks the panel of nine judges to dismiss candidates with a track record of human rights allegations against them, while the other suggests individuals only be permitted to run for the presidency twice.
Subianto, an ex-special forces commander, has been accused of rights abuses of in Timor-Leste and West Papua, claims he has denied. He is also accused of being responsible for the abduction and forced disappearance of Indonesian activists involved in pro-democracy protests against Suharto in the 1990s.
Subianto (right), then a general for the Indonesian armed forces, in May 1998.Credit: AP
The applicant proposing the age cap, East Java lawyer Rudy Hartono, told the court that candidates above 70 could be categorised as elderly and would be less effective as leaders because they were more susceptible to health problems.
Age is likely to be a major issue in another presidential election next year – in the United States where an 81-year-old Joe Biden will likely vie for re-election against a 78-year-old Donald Trump.
Indonesia’s most recent leaders have been younger. Widodo, who is nearing the end of his second and final five-year term, is still only 62. His predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was 59 when he last ran in 2009.
But the supremely popular Jokowi, as Widodo is also known, faces criticism that he is developing a family political dynasty with Gibran following in his footsteps as mayor of their hometown of Solo in Central Java. Widodo’s other son and son-in-law are also on the rise.
“For a lot of people, Jokowi has gone too far … people don’t like this dynastic politics stuff,” Wilson said.
“Despite all the controversies around his years in office, he’s managed to maintain very high popularity … He’s built a very powerful myth of someone who has come from outside the political elites [and is] seen as kind of an honest, straightforward person.
“But in the last period, the public has been more exposed to a different kind of Jokowi, someone who isn’t prepared to let go of power and someone who is indulging in some of the worst kind of nepotistic politics with his children to secure his legacy.”
Subianto’s opponents in the presidential race: Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan.Credit: AP
Subianto’s rivals for the presidency – former PDIP-backed Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo and ex-Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan – officially launched their bids this week.
-with Karuni Rompies
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