Indonesia to see three-way race in presidential polls

The campaign for Indonesia's presidential election is in full swing, with three candidates vying to be the next leader of Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, 72, on Wednesday registered as a candidate for the election. The former army lieutenant general named Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the former mayor of Surakarta city and eldest son of President Joko Widodo, as his running mate.

While Subianto is leading the early opinion polls, he faces stiff competition from Ganjar Pranowo, the former governor of Central Java and candidate for the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

Anies Rasyid Baswedan, the former governor of the capital Jakarta, is considered the dark horse in the three-way race.

Over 200 million people will be eligible to vote, with one-third of them under the age of 30.

Mustafa Izzuddin, a visiting professor at the Islamic University of Indonesia, said the cost of living is one of the key election issues.

James Chin, a professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia, said given Indonesia's young population, the issues that will dominate the February 2024 elections are economic growth, job creation, and income disparity.

Punchada Sirivunnabood, an associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Mahidol University in Thailand, said what matters most for voters is whether the candidates can sustain Indonesia's economic gains made under Widodo.

Marsel Muja, an entrepreneur in Jakarta, told China Daily the next president should continue Widodo's plan to build more infrastructure as it will improve people's welfare.

Louisa Maria, owner of a beauty salon in the province of Papua, said she has noticed how the start of the campaign season has sparked interest in the election in her community.

This is the voter base that both Subianto and Pranowo are appealing to. Both are promising to continue Widodo's programs of infrastructure development and mineral "downstreaming" — the shift from just exporting raw materials to processing them domestically.

Widodo, who has served as president for two consecutive terms, cannot run for a third term.

Indonesia's presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for Feb 14.

Leonardus Jegho is a freelance journalist for China Daily.