He is a former general who was dismissed from the military amid allegations he was involved in kidnapping and torture. But today, Prabowo Subianto, frontrunner in Indonesia’s looming election, projects a very different image: a cute grandpa with awkward dance moves and a softer side.
At campaign events, Prabowo, 72, has wiggled his hips and waved his arms around – moves captured in viral videos on TikTok, where users call him “gemoy”, meaning cute. On Instagram, his account shows him snuggling and kissing his cat, and posing with his hand in a love heart gesture. Supporters wear hoodies with a sweet-looking cartoon version of the politician.
It’s quite the rebrand for Prabowo, a former son-in-law of the late dictator Suharto, who was accused of involvement in the kidnapping and torture of pro-democracy activists in the late 1990s, and of rights abuses in Papua and East Timor. Prabowo was banned from travelling to the US, though this was dropped after he became defence secretary in 2019. He has always denied wrongdoing and has never been charged in relation to the allegations.
Despite his controversial past, Prabowo, whose running-mate is the eldest son of outgoing president Joko Widodo, is leading in election surveys ahead of next month’s vote in Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy. A recent Indikator poll suggested he is succeeding in capturing the support of younger voters, who will be crucial in deciding the outcome of the vote on 14 February. Voters aged between 17 and 40 will account for more than 50% of the electorate, according to data from the election commission.
Analysts say the election could mark a further entrenchment of old systems of political dynasties, and say social media will provide a crucial battleground for candidates.
Prabowo’s campaign team is seeking to portray the former general as “just a harmless grandpa” said Dr. Alexander R. Arifianto, Senior Fellow, Indonesia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “Especially [when targeting] young people who don’t have much knowledge about what Prabowo … allegedly did in the past.”
Younger people are more likely than older generations to be swing voters whose minds can be changed, added Dr Mada Sukmajati, a lecturer at the Department of Politics and Government, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
In conversations with students, Dr Mada has found that younger voters were less concerned about issues such as democracy or past human rights abuses. “They answer that these kinds of issues are ‘your issues’, these are the older generations’ issues,” said Dr Mada. “We as a young generation have our own issues – unemployment, and the labour market.”
Job opportunities and unemployment are the primary concerns for young people, according to surveys by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), while there is also growing concern about climate change and the environment.
Prabowo is running alongside vice-presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of current president Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi. While there has been controversy over their partnership – Gibran was only able to run after a ruling by the constitutional court, headed by his uncle Anwar Usman, created an exception to age restrictions for candidates – concerns about dynasty-making do not appear to have dented their performance in polling.
There is a perception among some young people “that these kinds of practices actually are common – it’s not the special case,” said Mada.
Instead, Prabowo’s link with Jokowi, who has reached the end of his term limit but remains popular, has boosted his prospects, said Edbert Gani Suryahudaya, researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies: “Prabowo’s strength lies in his unwavering public commitment to follow Jokowi’s trajectory.”
Prabowo has promised to continue Jokowi’s policies, including the construction of Nusantara, a new capital city on Borneo. He has also promised free lunches and milk for schoolchildren from preschool to senior high, and for pregnant women, as well as to eradicate extreme poverty within the two years.
Running against Prabowo is the former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, and former provincial governor Ganjar Pranowo.
Anies has also sought to share a personal touch on social media, and has an Instagram account dedicated to his cats called “Pawswedan family”. While Ganjar is from the ruling party, Anies is better able to position himself as an opposition candidate, and he has promised to scrap Jokowi’s plan to move the country’s administrative capital from Jakarta to Nusantara, saying he will instead invest more evenly in development across the country. Some voters, however, felt betrayed by campaign tactics he employed during the 2017 race to become Jakarta governor, accusing him of pandering to Islamists to defeat his rival, a Christian from the country’s ethnic Chinese minority – something he denied.
Ganjar, 55, who is the candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has sought to portray himself as down-to-earth man of the people, as he tours the country to meet voters. He has pledged to evaluate a controversial job creation law passed under Jokowi, which was criticised for undermining workers’ rights and the environment, but otherwise has not criticised the president’s economic policies. He too has faced controversy in his role as provincial governor, including over a mine development in Central Java, which drew criticisms from villagers and activists.
For some voters, stability is important. “[Jokowi’s policies] must be continued. Otherwise, once the leader changes, there will be new rules again,” said Riyanto, 41, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. The father of four, who works as a taxi driver and lives in Banten province, near Jakarta, is still unsure on how to vote, but says he is leaning towards either Prabowo or Ganjar.
“I often watch Mr Ganjar on YouTube … [he] often goes to the field,” Riyanto said. He knew less about Prabowo’s track record, he added, but described his style as “firm”.
“Whoever becomes the leader: the important thing is to pay attention to the lower middle class,” he added.
With less than two months to go, a recent poll by Kompas, found almost 29% of voters remain undecided about how to vote. “The horse race will be very, very competitive up until 14 February,” said Mada.
Puji Wijaya, 33, who works for a business in Jakarta, said she too is yet to decide on a candidate. “The three [sets of candidates] are not quite right for me,” she said.
