Ganjar

• After nearly three months of campaigning, the three pairs vying for presidential and vice presidential seats are now in the cooling-off period.
• That past is why the commitments of candidates to resolve human rights violations always come up during Indonesian elections.

Anies: concerns about his backers

• Their programs related to human rights underlines Anies’ pledges to strengthen national human rights institutions, resolve past human rights cases and provide socio-economic recovery for victims of human rights violations.
• Anies is the candidate with the most comprehensive details on his plans to revise regulations hindering press freedom and civil liberties.

Prabowo: haunted by deadly human rights allegations

• Frontrunner Prabowo Subianto, who is running with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, has pledged to strengthen democracy by protecting human rights for citizens.
• The pair have also promised to eliminate discriminatory practices, including protecting the fundamental rights of communities and vulnerable groups.
• However, only Prabowo-Gibran have not included any program to resolve past human rights violations among all candidates.

Ganjar: unresolved agrarian disputes

• However, they do not expressly state what kinds of programs they will have to achieve this.
• Ganjar has a poor record on agrarian conflicts during his tenure as the former governor of Central Java.
• In 2018, he issued an environmental permit to construct the Bener Dam in Purworejo, Central Java, as part of a mining site.

No candidate is clean

• The three presidential and vice-presidential pairs and their supporters have yet to be entirely assertive on the issue of civil liberties and human rights protection.
• Given their track records, Indonesian voters face a challenge to vote for the candidate with the clearest position on human rights issues, given no one is thoroughly “clean” from human rights controversies.

Eka Nugraha Putra tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.

• The total number of voters expected accounts for 74% of the total population of this, Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
• The registration for presidential and vice presidential candidates will be open from October 19 to November 25, 2023.
• But already the names Anies Baswedan, Ganjar Pranowo, Prabowo Subianto have emerged as leading candidates who are expected to run.
• And many have predicted that 53-year-old Anies will be the front runner in the race.
• In a number of national surveys Prabowo comes out on top, slightly ahead of Anies and Ganjar.

The youth vote

• A key question will be whether they are willing to participate or not.
• But when asked about their views, the percentage of young people who declared an interest in politics was a mere 1.1%.
• Many young voters were undecided, pessimistic about the political situation and lacking in trust of the political elite.
• Since the number of young voters is huge, political parties and potential candidates have started to implement social media strategies to attract them.

The simultaneous election

• The legislative elections will consist of votes to the national-level council and the House of Representatives as well as regional legislative bodies.
• It is also burdensome for election organisers.

The system

• This system differs from the closed proportional system previously implemented from 1971 to 1997 – where voters voted for the political parties, and then the parties internally select candidates for the legislative seats.
• With the open proportional system, the election gives voters more power over political parties to choose who will get the seats.

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