Indonesia Elections 2024: From contentious figure to crowd magnet, VP candidate Gibran expands Prabowo’s reach, appeal
A cooking competition, an aerobics event and a visit to an Islamic boarding school. CNA follows the campaign trail of Singapore-educated Gibran Rakabuming Raka in his bid to become Indonesia’s next vice president and out of his father’s shadow.
Indonesian vice-presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka (centre) speaking at an aerobics event organised by the Democratic Party in Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia. (Photo: CNA/Wisnu Agung Prasetyo)
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BANYUWANGI, Indonesia: At an Islamic boarding school in the far eastern corner of Java Island, Indonesia, a group of teenage girls clad in white Islamic garbs were spotted crying hysterically, struggling to contain the shock of encountering their idol.
“I touched him,” shouted one girl to her friends, her face blushing and eyes sparkling with tears of joy. Another was trembling with excitement with her hands shaking uncontrollably. One girl threw her full weight onto a friend’s embrace, too shaken to stand on her own.
But it was not a movie star or a pop sensation who visited the Ibnu Sina boarding school in East Java’s Banyuwangi Regency on Jan 10. Instead, it was a young politician named Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who was out campaigning as part of his bid to become Indonesia’s next vice president.
Mr Gibran - a skinny, youthful-looking 36-year-old who holds a bachelor’s degree from the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) - is the running mate of Mr Prabowo Subianto, the chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).
Mr Prabowo is the front-runner in the Indonesian presidential election set to take place on Feb 14 and has been dominating recent polls on candidates' popularity.
Several pollsters have put the popularity of the Prabowo-Gibran ticket at between 45 and 47 per cent, way ahead of their rivals: Mr Ganjar Pranowo and his running mate Mr Mahfud MD (24-27 per cent) as well as Mr Anies Baswedan and his vice-presidential candidate Mr Muhaimin Iskandar (21-23 per cent).
Before naming Mr Gibran - who spent his formative years in Singapore as a student at Orchid Park Secondary School - as his running mate in October, Mr Prabowo’s popularity stood at around 37 per cent.
This was just a slight lead over the current ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) candidate Ganjar, who at the time secured the support of 34.5 per cent of those surveyed.
Mr Prabowo’s dramatic rise in popularity has often been credited to the so-called “Jokowi effect” by pundits. They were referring to Mr Gibran’s father, Indonesia’s current president Joko Widodo who has many loyal supporters and an approval rating of 77 per cent, according to the latest survey conducted by Indikator Politik Indonesia on Jan 18.
But Mr Gibran does have his own contribution in swinging voters in Mr Prabowo’s favour.
Throughout the campaign season which officially began on Nov 28, it was hard for Mr Gibran to go anywhere without getting mobbed by thousands of screaming fans eager to get close. At times, the scuffle got so hairy it led to people getting knocked off their feet.
“I shook his hands. I was very happy even though I had to tussle with many people,” Mdm Hilmiah, a 49-year-old chef who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told CNA.
The woman first met Mr Gibran at an aerobics event at a theme park in Banyuwangi on Jan 10. Mdm Hilmiah said she was not content with her brief encounter and followed Mr Gibran’s on his next agenda: a cooking contest at a hotel some nine kilometres away.
