Indonesia Elections: Ex-General Prabowo Subianto Favourite to Takeover Reins from Widodo

Indonesians began voting for a new president Wednesday with Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto the frontrunner despite concerns over his human rights record and claims of improper support from outgoing leader Joko Widodo.

Polls project that Subianto, a military chief during the Suharto dictatorship a generation ago, is on course to secure a majority that would avoid a second-round run-off.

The 72-year-old is the clear favourite after a campaign mixing populist rhetoric with pledges to continue the policies of Widodo, who remains hugely popular but is required by the constitution to stand down after almost a decade in power.

“We will fight to bring prosperity for all people of Indonesia. We will continue what was already being built by previous presidents,” Subianto told supporters at a weekend campaign rally.

Nearly 205 million people are eligible to vote for Subianto or his rivals, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, in just the fifth presidential election since the end of Suharto’s dictatorship in 1998.

Polling stations opened at 7:00 am (2200 GMT) in the easternmost region of Papua and were due to close at 01:00 pm (0600 GMT) at the other end of the country in jungle-clad Sumatra.

In Papua’s Timika city, officials inspected makeshift polling stations built from logs, metal sheets and palm leaves as voters arrived to eye candidate lists.

“I will vote for the one who would be the best to develop Papua,” 19-year-old student Daton, who only gave his first name, told AFP from the region where separatists have waged a decades-long insurgency.

In capital Jakarta, a thunderstorm deluged the streets before polls opened, flooding some areas.

Subianto needs to claim more than 50 percent of the overall vote and at least a fifth of ballots cast in over half the country’s 38 provinces to secure the presidency.

‘Spirit for change’

Former Jakarta governor Baswedan, widely seen as the favourite to challenge Subianto in the event of a second-round runoff vote, was confident as polls opened.

“Day by day I can feel the spirit for change is getting stronger, it’s undeniable,” he told broadcaster Metro TV.

Former Central Java governor Pranowo had initially been viewed as a front-runner, but his campaign has faltered badly.

Rights groups have expressed alarm that Subianto could roll back hard-won democratic freedoms, pointing to accusations he ordered the abduction of democracy activists at the end of Suharto’s rule.

Subianto was dismissed from the military in 1998 over the abductions. The United States for years refused him a visa, but he denied the accusations and was never charged.

“We’ve been always worried about his commitment towards democracy,” said Yoes Kenawas, a researcher at Jakarta-based Atma Jaya Catholic University.

“If he wins the election those questions will always linger.”

But Subianto has since rehabilitated his image, partly thanks to a savvy social media campaign targeting Indonesia’s youth in which he is portrayed as a “cuddly grandpa”.

Another key factor in his popularity is having Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his vice presidential running mate.

Widodo enjoys near-record approval ratings after two terms overseeing steady economic growth and relatively stable politics in the nation’s young democracy.

But some legal experts and rights groups have accused Widodo of improperly using government funds to support Subianto.

‘Just attacks’

Questions have also been raised over how Raka, 36, became Subianto’s running mate.

In October, Indonesia’s then-chief justice, who is Widodo’s brother-in-law, changed rules that had barred candidates below the age of 40 from running for high office.

Subianto and his aides have rejected all accusations of impropriety.

And many voters appear willing to overlook Subianto’s past, or do not know of the allegations.

“It’s just attacks from opponents,” said 24-year-old Novita Agustina at a weekend rally.

More than 800,000 polling stations will be operating on Wednesday, which was declared a national holiday for the country’s nearly 280 million people.

More than 5.7 million workers will man polling stations, open for just six hours. Over 20,000 seats are up for grabs from district level to national parliamentary seats and the presidency.

Official results are not expected until March, but so-called “quick counts” are expected to give a reliable indication of the winner later Wednesday.