An Indonesian court’s decision to open a loophole allowing the president’s son to participate in February’s election is unlikely to stand as a great moment in national jurisprudence.
Aside from the thorny issues of nepotism and dynasty-building, the Indonesian Constitutional Court’s decision to open a loophole that allows President Joko Widodo’s son to participate inThere has been speculation all year about whether the 36-year-old Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who in 2022 was elected mayor of his and his father’s home city of Solo, would join the presidential ticket of Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto.
The results of those polls don’t seem to have deterred the dynastic option. After a dramatic weekend of political manoeuvring, the announcement that Gibran would be Prabowo’s vice-presidential candidate appears imminent ahead of the close of registrations on Wednesday. Getting the Jokowi seal of approval in this way could, however, be a double-edged sword for Prabowo, who for now is widely considered to be the presidential frontrunner. With the election expected to be decided in a run-off scheduled for late June 2024, there’s plenty of time for a long campaign against Prabowo’s complicity in dynasty-building.
His first term was marked by stormy relations with the party and its chairwoman, former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, over often small matters of policy and personnel choices. Now, with the highest approval ratings of any outgoing Indonesian president and drawing on a broad base of elite support, Jokowi has been emboldened to make this audacious move to support his son joining the presidential ticket of PDI-P’s major rival in the 2024 polls.