Indonesia’s election could have a major impact on global economy and trade
Workers arrange ballot boxes prepared for the 2024 election and temporary stored at a stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, Dec. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
DATE OF ELECTION
Presidential and Parliamentary: February 14.
For the Presidential election, if none of the candidates secures more than 50% of the votes in the first round, a runoff between the top two is scheduled for June 26.
TYPE OF ELECTION
Indonesia will hold Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
WHO’S RUNNING
There are three candidates for Presidential election with their running mates:
Anies Baswedan, former Jakarta governor and former education and culture minister. Baswedan, 54, is known as a progressive Muslim intellectual, but religious identity politics in the 2017 election for Jakarta governor were seen as distancing him from moderate Muslims. Prabowo Subianto, 72, a former special forces general and current defense minister, is running for the third time as a presidential candidate. Subianto has vowed to continue the current president’s development plan, in what the experts view as an attempt to draw on Joko Widodo’s popularity. Ganjar Pranowo, former Central Java governor, is the governing party’s presidential candidate. The 55-year-old is positioning himself as a man of the people.
A man walks past a General Election Commission’s banner showing the photos of presidential candidates, from left, former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and his running mate Muhaimin Iskandar, former special forces general Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and former Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and his running mate Mahfud MD in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
WHY IT MATTERS TO THE WORLD
Political changes in Indonesia could have a significant impact on the global economy and trade.
With a diverse population of more than 270 million, Indonesia became the world’s third-largest democracy behind India and the United States after the reformation in 1998, which ended the rule of President Suharto, who had been in power for over three decades.
Experts, however, question the sustainability of democracy in Indonesia after Gibran Rakabuming Raka, President Joko Widodo’s eldest son, was allowed to become a vice presidential candidate. Gibran, 36, did not meet the age requirement of 40 to run but the country’s Constitutional Court — headed by the president’s brother-in-law — made an exception in a ruling made on Oct. 16. It now allows those who served or had been elected as regional leaders to run at a younger age. The controversial ruling has been widely criticized as nepotistic, with analysts warning it could undermine the democratic process.
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