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Voting began in vast Indonesia on Wednesday, with more than 200 million voters voting to elect a new president in what is said to be the world's largest single-day election.
The world's third-largest electoral democracy and largest Muslim-majority country, the vast Southeast Asian country has experienced remarkable development since the fall of dictator Suharto's dictatorship in 1998. It has transformed into one of Asia's most vibrant democracies and economies.
Organizing a vote in the world's largest archipelagic nation is a huge undertaking. The country is larger in area than the United States and spans three time zones. It is made up of more than 18,000 islands and islets, 6,000 of which are inhabited, and more than 150 languages are spoken throughout its territory.
In the decisive election, in which about 20,000 other national and local representatives will also be elected, the campaign field has been dominated by big-name celebrities.
Indonesia's young people hold the key, with about half of registered voters under the age of 40, according to the General Election Commission.
Sonny Tamberaka/AFP/Getty Images
A woman votes at Banjar Teba on the Bali resort island of Jimbaran on February 14, 2024.
Job opportunities are a top concern for many voters, and presidential candidates have vowed to drive the country's economic growth, powered by its rich natural resources and trade opportunities. However, climate change and illegal logging are challenging Indonesia's sustainable future.
Here's what you can expect:
presidential candidates
This election is a three-way race between a former army general and two former governors.
Former army general and current defense minister Prabowo Subianto, 72, is running for president for the third time and is leading in opinion polls.
Mr Prabowo is the former son-in-law of the late dictator Suharto, and his controversial career has not diminished his popularity as experts warn of a return to dynastic politics.
He is accused of kidnapping and torturing democracy activists in the late 1990s while he was a general, but he has repeatedly denied responsibility. In the years since, he has revamped his image as a supporter of democracy, but many activists and analysts remain fearful of his authoritarian past.
“The fact that he is supported by former leader Suharto and has decided that it is politically advantageous to transform into an ostensible democrat means that even if he manages to rise to the presidency, he will no longer have a brutal past.'' “To advance his ambitions, he needs to pretend he respects human rights,'' said the former executive director of Human Rights Watch. Kenneth Roth, a visiting professor at Princeton University, told CNN.
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Indonesia's 2024 presidential candidates — Ganjar Pranowo (left), Prabowo Subianto, Anies Baswedan (right)
The other main candidate is Ganjar Pranowo, a candidate from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. He served two terms as governor of Central Java and had many supporters outside the capital, Jakarta, Indonesia's most populous island. His running mate is Senior Minister Mahfud.
Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan is running as an independent candidate. He has strong ties to Islamic political groups, and his nominee for vice president, Muhaimin Iskandar, is the leader of Indonesia's largest Islamic party, the National Awakening Party.
Anis is a former Jakarta governor who won the job in 2017 after accusing his main candidate, the Chinese Christian Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (commonly known as “Ahok”), of blaspheming him.
Outgoing President Joko Widodo (commonly known as Jokowi) has dominated Indonesian politics since 2014, but the constitution prohibits him from seeking a third consecutive term.
At the time, he was hailed as a breakaway from Indonesia's dynastic politics. However, there are concerns over what many see as a move by Jokowi to secure influence through his 36-year-old son, Gibran Rakabumin Raka, who is running for vice president with Prabowo after he leaves office. It's increasing.
The Constitutional Court, chaired by Jokowi's brother-in-law, ruled that Gibran was eligible to run despite being under the age limit.
“The plan is clearly to establish a Jokowi dynasty and Gibran fits that mold,” said Adrian Vickers, a professor of Southeast Asian studies at the University of Sydney. “He is also a clear asset to Prabowo in winning over the millennial vote.”
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A mascot depicting presidential candidate and Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (left) and vice presidential candidate Gibran Rakabumin Raka (right) at an election event on February 5, 2024.
Experts say that is very likely, even though Prabowo and his running mate, Gibran, have emerged as front-runners in various opinion polls.
To win, a presidential candidate must receive at least 50% of the total vote and a simple majority of 20% of the votes cast in more than half of the country's 38 states. If no one wins, a runoff election will be held on June 26th.
“Many people are concerned about Prabowo becoming president and are doing everything they can to remove him,” said Vickers, from the University of Sydney. “Mr. Áñez could win enough votes to force a runoff,” he added.
Indonesia is a young country. At least one-third of voters are Millennials, and 22% are Gen Z. However, nearly one in five Indonesians aged 15 to 24 cannot find a job, according to government data.
According to a survey conducted by Lembaga Survey Indonesia and ISEAS (Yusof Ishak Research Institute) in November 2023, young voters prioritize job opportunities, fighting poverty and corruption as their top three voting priorities. ing.
Economist Maria Monica Wiharja, a visiting researcher at the institute, says the ability to create quality jobs with fair wages depends on Indonesia's governance system, where corruption is common in order to attract foreign investment. It is said that it is taking place.
“If you don't have good institutions, it will affect the investment climate. And if it affects the investment climate, it will affect job creation,” Wiharja told CNN.
Transparency International ranks Indonesia 110th out of 180 countries in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, saying the country has regressed slightly during President Jokowi's tenure.
Karim Saputra, 34, who cast his vote at a polling station in Bekasi, West Java province, on Wednesday, said he hopes the new president can promote Indonesia's progress and prosperity.
“We hope that the elected president will be able to eliminate corruption, stabilize the prices of goods, and support the underprivileged with health and medical care.” [social security]'' he told CNN, adding that the new leaders should also work to improve the education system.
Use and abuse of AI
With over 210 million internet users, Indonesia has the world's largest digital population. The Internet plays a big role in this country's politics.
A 2022 survey found that 60% of voters under 40 said social media was their main source of information, followed by television at 40%.
The 2019 election was rife with online disinformation, misinformation and smear campaigns, but the rise and advancement of AI technology is making the situation even more worrying, experts say.
One deepfake in particular of the late dictator Suharto went viral, spreading across social media platforms and chat apps, sparking a national debate about the ethics of AI in elections.
Indonesia's tropical rainforest is the third largest in the world, but land degradation has accelerated in recent years due to industry-driven deforestation.
Lucky businesses in industries such as palm oil and raw material extraction thrive because there are few punitive measures against polluters and illegal land grabs, said Sayidatihaya Ahura, a researcher at Indonesian conservation group Satya Bumi. That's what it means.
The harmful environmental damage is occurring in tandem with President Jokowi's mandated plan to develop a domestic nickel processing industry to fuel an electric vehicle boom, something some presidential candidates also aim to do. There is.
“So many products come from Indonesia, from illegal logging, from illegal plantations, from a mining sector that violates human rights, and from local communities that are at stake in this election,” Sayidatihaya said. Mr. A said.
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A man works to extinguish a wildfire at a palm oil plantation in Ogun Ilir, South Sumatra, Indonesia, on September 23, 2023.
Jokowi has made it his signature policy to move the capital from Jakarta to Nusantara on the island of Borneo in a $30 billion plan to disperse economic activity across the country as the capital struggles with flooding and traffic congestion. did.
Presidential candidates Ganjar and Prabowo have said they support building a new capital, but Anies has publicly rejected the plan, saying it would foster “new inequalities” in various regions.