In a first in the country, Anis Baswedan, the No. 1 candidate in the Indonesian elections, is of Arab origin (Al Jazeera)
Jakarta -
On February 14, Indonesia will hold the largest one-day elections in the world to elect a president and vice president, along with nearly 20,000 deputies in the central parliament, the Senate, and parliaments at the regional, province, and city levels, with about a quarter of a million running in the race. candidate.
Since the democratic transition in Indonesia in 1998, the elections have received wide popular and partisan interest, as approximately 200 million voters participate in the ballot every 5 years, according to which about half of their legislators in the central parliament and hundreds of local legislative councils change.
However, the elections, which will be held in a few days, are more special than their predecessors, as they constitute an attractive factor for the Arab reader to follow their course and results, given that it is the largest Muslim country (about 278 million people), and because of other internal and external considerations that have an impact, which we will review in the following topics:
Anis Baswedan, the Indonesian candidate of Arab origin, in an election meeting with his supporters (Al Jazeera)
Arabic origin
Despite the remarkable presence of Indonesians of Arab origin (Hadrama) in political and public life in the country, this is the first time that a politician from this community is running in the race for the presidency of the country, whose ancestors immigrated to Indonesia and settled there, and who was born in the western island of Java.
Presidential candidate Anies Baswedan has presence and experience in political life, when he won a fierce battle in the Jakarta governorship elections in 2017 against a broad coalition of political parties, and his term ended in October 2023.
Over the past five years, Baswedan has been remarkably active at the popular level, and interested in issues in the Arab region, especially the Palestinian issue, with its various stages and events.
Yoon Mahmoudi, director of the Middle East Studies Department at Indonesia State University, believes that the Indonesian street does not give much consideration to the ethnic origin of the candidates, whether Arab, Chinese or other, but this may affect the Arab citizen’s interest in Baswedan’s lineage in following the elections and their results, but it has no effect. On the Indonesian street.
He added in his speech to Al Jazeera Net, "But the lineage factor may have an impact on Baswedan's popularity with the Indonesian voter, given that his grandfather, Abdul Rahman Baswedan, was one of the heroes of the Indonesian War of Independence and one of the founders of the state." Jakarta declared its independence in the house of Abdul Rahman Baswedan.
Meanwhile, researcher and political analyst Molaworman Hanisi believes that Anis Baswedan’s Arab roots have an impact on his popularity in areas where Indonesians of Arab origins are concentrated, and they number in the millions, just as other candidates benefit from their lineage and origins within the country.
Presidential candidate and Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (right) and current President Joko Widodo (french)
The present issue
Indonesia has historically been a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, regardless of the orientations of its presidents, from Ahmed Sukarno in the 1960s until today, with all forms of political, humanitarian and media support. Jakarta and other Indonesian cities such as Bandung, Medan and Surabaya have become famous for organizing massive demonstrations in support of the Gaza Strip and Palestine in Times of crisis.
Perhaps the only foreign issue that finds a prominent place in the electoral program of all presidential candidates is the Palestinian issue and the war on Gaza.
Mahmoudi says, "Palestine is a global issue, and the whole world cares about it. It is no wonder that it is of interest to all candidates, as it is an issue of political and human rights."
Regarding Indonesia's official position on the Palestinian issue, Mahmoudi adds to Al Jazeera Net: "The state cares about this issue and its people from the beginning, and therefore the candidates' interest in this issue will affect the extent of their popularity in the elections."
For his part, researcher Hanisi believes that the issue of Palestine and Gaza in particular was strongly present in the Indonesian elections in 2014 and 2019. "In these elections, the war in Gaza imposes itself on the world's attention, even more so than the Indonesian elections."
But he believes that the candidates in these elections do not present a clear program towards the Palestinian issue like previous elections, even though it is an important part of their electoral campaigns.
Vice Presidential Candidate: Young Gebran, son of current President Joko Widodo (Anatolia)
A test of the path of democracy
Local observers believe that these elections are a test of the democratic path in Indonesia that began in 1998 after the fall of the regime of former President Haji Muhammad Suharto. According to their estimation, if a country can pass five elections without being disturbed by undemocratic behavior, it can be considered to have passed the stage of transition from dictatorship to a democratic system.
Indonesia is now holding its sixth elections, after 5 smooth previous elections, albeit marred by criticism regarding the integrity of some of its stations.
“The 2024 elections will determine whether Indonesia is able to confirm its commitment to being a democratic country and how to implement this democracy,” a member of the Electoral Commission told August Milas in an interview with the local newspaper Kompas.
There is widespread criticism of the behavior of current President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) by interfering directly and indirectly in these elections, by nominating his son (Gibran Rakabuming Raka) as vice president alongside candidate Prabowo Subianto, after a legal amendment to the minimum ages of candidates was approved by the Constitutional Court before the deadline. Submitting the names of the candidates, a judicial ruling that sparked - and still is - widespread controversy among politicians, academics and jurists.
In addition, Jokowi published his picture alongside Prabowo and his son in election posters, even though he is still serving as president and is supposed to be neutral in the elections.
Therefore, some observers fear direct or indirect interference in the elections that would affect their results.
Gangar Prano, the third Indonesian candidate, is popular among young people (Al Jazeera)
Influential youth bloc
These elections will be held with the participation of a large number of young voters and represent a turning point between generations, given that the number of young people between the ages of 17 and 40 years reaches approximately 55% of the electorate. Therefore, observers expect that youth will have a pivotal role in shaping the upcoming political options in Indonesia. What these elections produce.
Therefore, Mahmoudi believes that the younger generation, who constitute a large percentage of voters and are remarkably active on social media platforms, are better able to search for information about the candidates, evaluate it, and freely determine their choices away from traditional support for the parties and personalities running in the elections.
Hanisi agrees with him, stating that Indonesian youth have strong political awareness and the ability to access information from modern media, and form their own convictions without external influence on their choices.
The electoral slogan of candidate Ganjar Prano is “Work for all and cheap prices” (Al Jazeera)
Strategic weight
The great geostrategic weight that Indonesia enjoys in the Southeast Asian region has always made it a subject of interest and struggle for influence between the major powers since the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the Western camp, and this conflict has remained present at varying levels over the past six decades.
With the escalation of the US-Chinese conflict in the South China Sea, Indonesia finds itself at the heart of this conflict by virtue of its geographical location, its political, economic and military weight, and its control over a number of the most important waterways in the world, namely the Malacca Corridor and other corridors close to it.
About a quarter of the world's trade in goods passes through the Strait of Malacca (more than 50,000 commercial ships annually), and a third of the total trade in crude oil and other liquid products, making it the second most important sea corridor for global oil trade after the Strait of Hormuz. About 80% of China's exports pass through this strait, which means that its economic fate depends strongly on the stability of the situation there.
During the rule of current Indonesian President Widodo over the past ten years, Beijing found an increasing foothold in Indonesia through large economic projects, which intensified the intensity of the Chinese-American conflict in this country.
Mahmoudi believes that America and China are playing and interfering directly in many internal files in the country. He believes that the three candidates' inclinations towards external powers can be distributed as follows:
Baswedan leans towards Arab countries and the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Prabowo is considered closer to China due to his connection to President Jokowi.
While Ganjar opens up to China and America at the same time.
While other analysts believe that the matter may go beyond that description, Anis Baswedan is accepted in Western capitals, and Prabowo has channels of communication with Washington that he strengthened during his assumption of the Ministry of Defense in recent years, and Gangar Prano is also accepted by other Asian capitals, such as Singapore.
Source: Al Jazeera