Joko Widodo’s rival eyes third Indonesian presidential run

Bloomberg

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto will run for the presidency in 2024, hoping the third time’s a charm as he tops popularity surveys on the back of his strongman image and support from the majority Muslim population.
Prabowo, who leads Indonesia’s third largest party Gerindra, announced his intention in a briefing after a party meeting on Friday.
The former special-forces commander announced his candidacy more than 18 months ahead of the elections to capitalize on popular support while he remains in President Joko Widodo’s government. The leader, popularly known as Jokowi and who beat Prabowo in the last two election contests, isn’t able to run again due to the two-term limits.
“I accept your call to be a candidate for the 2024 presidential election,” said Prabowo, who is among the top three leading candidates in a number of opinion polls.
According to a survey published in June by top newspaper Kompas, Prabowo is leading with 25.3%. Ganjar Pranowo, the current governor of Central Java, is close behind with 22%, while incumbent governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan is ranked third with 12.6%.
Prabowo, who was once married to a daughter of former dictator Suharto, has consistently positioned himself as a strongman who can make Southeast Asia’s largest economy a major power to be reckoned with.
Yet he had struggled to defeat Jokowi in the last highly-charged presidential race that was marred by identity politics. Shortly after the tight 2019 presidential race in which Jokowi won 55.5% of the vote, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court dismissed Prabowo’s allegations of systemic electoral fraud.