Recent announcement made by presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto to appoint the eldest son of President Joko Widodo, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his vice presidential candidate sparked negative sentiment from the public.
Moreover, the announcement came immediately after the Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi – MK) rendered a decision which alters the requirements to become a presidential and vice presidential candidate.
Decision of the Mahkamah Keluarga
The MK, which many comically refer to as Mahkamah Keluarga (Family Court) nowadays, amended the substance of Article 169 point (q) of Law No. 7 of 2017 concerning General Election. The amendment states that any individual who have experience in regional head role through an election.
The amendment, is considered to pave way for Gibran to become a vice president candidate, smoothing his way to establish a political dynasty based off of Jokowi’s term.
Dropping electability
Following Prabowo’s announcement the Indonesian Survey Institution (Lembaga Survey Indonesia – LSI) asserted that the move can cause his electability to drop.
This is a snapshot of the results of a survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) on public attitudes regarding support for presidential and vice-presidential candidates following the Constitutional Court’s (MK) decision on the age limit for presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Djayadi Hanan, the Executive Director of the Indonesian Survey Institute, stated that out of approximately 37.2% of survey respondents who were aware of the MK’s decision, 48% expressed agreement while 43% disagreed with it.
Within the 48% who agreed, 41% of the respondents supported Prabowo, 33.8% supported Ganjar, and 16% supported Anies. On the other hand, within the 43% who disagreed with the MK’s decision, 37% supported Prabowo, 27.6% supported Ganjar, and 23.9% supported Anies.
“In other words, the disagreement with the MK’s decision has decreased support for both Prabowo and Ganjar, while support for Anies has increased,” said Djayadi in the LSI survey release titled “Public Attitudes toward the MK Decision and Its Impact on Political Support in the 2024 Election,” on Sunday, October 22, 2023.
Djayadi believes that if more people become aware of the MK’s decision and the level of disagreement increases, there is also a potential for a further decline in support.
PAN responds to Gibran appointment
Chairman of the National Executive Board of the PAN (National Mandate Party), Saleh Partaonan Daulay, dismisses any tension within the Indonesia Advance Coalition (Koalisi Indonesia Maju – KIM) after Prabowo announced Gibran as the vice presidential candidate.
“It’s not true that there’s any tension. There’s no debate, no disagreement. This issue is intentionally propagated by others. It’s common in the dynamic political arena like this for many to feel that their interests are disrupted,” Saleh stated in a press release received in Jakarta on Monday, October 23, 2023.
On the contrary, he claims that all parties are pleased because the representation of political parties in Prabowo’s campaign team is complete, with roles already assigned and delegated.
