Highlights

  • Subianto is frontrunner, backed by Widodo
  • Pranowo official candidate from ruling party
  • Conservative Baswedan third contender

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Defense minister, two former governors vie for Indonesia’s presidency

It is a three-way race for the presidency among Indonesia's Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and two former governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo.

Defense minister, two former governors vie for Indonesia’s presidency

Indonesians on Wednesday will elect the successor to popular President Joko Widodo, who is serving his second and final term.

About 205 million people are eligible to vote in the world's third-largest democracy and most populous Muslim-majority nation.

It is a three-way race for the presidency among Indonesia's Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and two former governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo.

Subianto is widely seen as the frontrunner. He has picked Widodo’s eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his running mate.

Subianto is the only candidate with links to the more than 30-year Suharto dictatorship, when he was a lieutenant general.

A longtime commander in the Kopassus special forces, Subianto was dishonorably discharged in 1998 after Kopassus soldiers kidnapped and tortured political opponents of Suharto, his then-father-in-law.

Of 22 activists kidnapped that year, 13 remain missing. Subianto never faced trial, but several of his men were tried and convicted.

He went into self-exile in Jordan for several years before returning and founding the Gerindra Party in early 2008. He ran for the presidency twice, losing to Widodo both times.

He refused to acknowledge the results but accepted Widodo's offer of the defense minister position in 2019, a bid for unity.

Despite being the oldest candidate, his running mate is the youngest: 36-year-old Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Widodo's son.

Raka is below the statutory minimum age of 40 but was allowed to run under an exception created by the Constitutional Court — then headed by Widodo's brother-in-law — allowing current and former regional governors to run at age 35.

Subianto has had close ties with hard-line Islamists whom he used to undermine his opponents.

Presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo is with the governing party, but does not have Widodo's support.

Widodo has distanced himself from the party's campaign and is seen as backing Subianto and his son Raka.

Pranowo was a national legislator for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle for 10 years before being elected in 2013 for the first of two terms as Central Java governor.

While governor, he refused to allow Israel to participate in the Under-20 FIFA World Cup to be held in his province.

FIFA subsequently dropped Indonesia as host of the games, triggering a backlash against Pranowo from soccer fans. Israel and Muslim-majority Indonesia do not have diplomatic ties.

He has been a less enthusiastic backer of Widodo's policies than Subianto.

His running mate is Mohammad Mahfud, who recently resigned as security minister to focus on campaigning.

He is also a former defense minister, justice minister and chief justice of the Constitutional Court.

The third presidential candidate is Anies Baswedan, the former head of an Islamic university.

He was governor of Jakarta until last year after winning a divisive election in 2017 against an ethnic Chinese Christian incumbent backed by Widodo.

Baswedan, a former Fulbright scholar, was education and culture minister from 2014 to 2016, when Widodo removed him from the Cabinet.

Basdewan is backed by conservative Muslim groups, after he galvanized hundreds of thousands to take to the streets in 2016 against the then-Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who was then imprisoned on blasphemy charges after quoting the Quran in a speech.

Baswedan was seen as using the controversy to successfully run for governor.

His use of religious identity politics in the 2017 election distanced him from moderate Muslims.

His choice of Muhaimin Iskandar as his running mate is viewed as an attempt to rebuild that support.

Iskandar’s Islam-based National Awakening Party has strong ties with Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, which boasts over 45 million members.

Baswedan opposes Widodo's signature plan to move Indonesia’s capital from Jakarta to Nusantara on the island of Borneo, about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) away, which involves constructing government buildings and housing from scratch.

He said in an interview with The Associated Press last month that democracy in Indonesia is declining, referring to Subianto's choice of Widodo's son as his running mate, and pledged to get it back on track.

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