JAKARTA – Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has cleared the way for President Joko Widodo’s 36-year-old son, Solo town mayor Gibran Rakabuming, to become the running mate to front-runner Prabowo Subianto in the February 14 presidential election. But neither has said whether they will follow through on the court decision to run together.
While the country’s highest court rejected one petition seeking to lower the age for presidential and vice-presidential candidates from 40 to 35, it ruled in favor of another for them to be allowed to run for the same posts if they have contested a regional election, regardless of age.
According to legal analysts, the court was correct in rejecting three petitions on lowering the age limit, arguing that it was something to be considered by lawmakers in the People’s Consultative Assembly, the country’s highest legislative body.
The 5-4 ruling on the separate petition is widely seen as an attempt to perpetuate Widodo’s dynasty – a phenomenon that has barely taken root in Indonesia – and extend his influence beyond the end of his presidency next October when he is expected to continue his career as leader of a political party.
What did not sit well with many critics was the fact that the chief justice of the Constitutional Court is Widodo’s brother-in-law, Anwar Usman, 66, who made known his personal views on the subject in an earlier public lecture by noting that the Prophet Muhammad appointed a 16-year-old boy as his military commander.
In his dissenting opinion, one of the nine justices, Saldi Asra, claimed at a meeting where Usman was absent, the eight other justices had initially agreed to drop the case. But with Usman present at a second session, the majority on the bench had a change of mind.
The case has stirred angry criticism in civil society, putting Widodo’s legacy and his popularity at risk and leaving the court open to claims the ruling was meant to benefit only one family.
“Democracy works on the assumption that everyone abides by the same rules of the game and that every player gets equal access to the same resources,” The Jakarta Post said in an editorial. “The court’s ruling will not only put the credibility of next year’s election in question, but will also cast a long shadow over Indonesian democracy.”
Prabowo is well aware of Widodo’s enduring popularity and the value of his endorsement, but he may also understand the growing tide of resentment over the court decision. The week-long registration period for candidates begins today (October 19).
If Gibran does join Prabowo, it will lead to open conflict between Widodo and the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party or Struggle (PDI-P), of which he remains a functionary and in a simmering relationship with party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, who has always demanded fealty from the president.
Once lauded as the common man president, Widodo has transformed into a coldly calculating politician, disappointed by the way the Covid-19 pandemic robbed him of two years of his 10-year presidency and left his supporters trying, unsuccessfully, to extend his second term.
Essayist and former Tempo magazine editor Goenawan Mohamad, previously a fervent supporter of Widodo, whom he once described as Indonesia’s best president, fears history is repeating itself.
Like authoritarian ruler Suharto, he points out, Widodo has succumbed to the addiction that comes with being praised and idolized. “He no longer can be criticized, he does not listen to good advice, such as to not be in such a hurry to build a new national capital.”
“And finally, President Jokowi (Widodo’s nickname) – as I have discovered little by little – is doing what Suharto did: giving his children special treatment.”
Perhaps with a slight difference. While former dictator Suharto’s children enriched themselves through lucrative contracts, Widodo is perceived to be building a Philippine-style political dynasty in which he will continue to play a role behind the scenes.
The move will also likely spark open conflict between Widodo and Megawati, whose PDI-P presidential candidate, former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, is now officially paired with political coordinating minister Mohammad Mahfud Mahmodin.
Days before the court handed down its decision, Widodo’s youngest son, Kaesaeng Pangarep, 28, assumed leadership of the tiny Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), one of the petitioners in the Constitutional Court, which will contest the February’s simultaneous legislative election.
A PDI-P functionary like his father and brother, Kaesaeng was the first Widodo family member to openly break away from the ruling party. In more recent days, Widodo’s extensive volunteer network, known as Projo, has officially thrown its support behind Prabowo.
After months of sitting on the sidelines and insisting on staying aloof from the presidential race, that still leaves the president to take what would be a defining step in Indonesian politics.
Prabowo has a slight edge over Pranowo in most polls, but with third-placed opposition candidate Anies Baswedan certain to fall out of the race in the first round of voting, his strong bloc of conservative Muslim voters is likely to get behind Prabowo in the second round in July.
While Prabowo struggles to choose a running mate, PDI-P has stolen a march on its rival with its choice of East Java-born Mahfud as its vice-presidential candidate.
Mahfud was in fact Widodo’s choice as a running mate in 2018, but the president was forced to change partners after his coalition allies rejected him, fearing he had political ambitions of his own.
Mahfud’s two major opponents at the time were the chairman of his own National Awakening Party (PKB), Muhaimin Iskander, and National Development Party (PPP) leader Muhammad Romahurmuziy, both senior members of the mass Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), a major vote earner in Java, the nation’s most populous island.
So why Mahfud now? For one, his PKB membership has become irrelevant now that the fourth-ranked party has joined Prabowo’s coalition. More important may be Mahfud’s experience.
Apart from being a former Constitutional Court chief justice, he was defense minister in the Abdurarrhman Wahid government and has served as chief political minister for all of Widodo’s second-term government, often surprising observers with his reformist views.
Pranowo, who has just retired after a decade as Central Java governor, is a one-time national legislator, but has little or no track record in central government and, unlike Widodo, is known to constantly defer to Megawati, even on the choice of a running mate.
Widodo does not make for a similar comparison. The former furniture maker demonstrated an impressive vision as mayor of his Java hometown of Solo and later earned significant points during two years as governor of teeming Jakarta between 2012 and 2014.
His unprecedented popularity reached such a level that Megawati was forced to belatedly step aside for him as PDI-P’s candidate in the 2014 presidential election. The pair have been at loggerheads ever since, in large part because Megawati has always insisted she is his superior as party leader.
