Nivell Rayda, Banyuwangi, Indonesia – At an Islamic boarding school in the far eastern corner of Java Island, Indonesia, a group of teenage girls clad in white Islamic garbs were spotted crying hysterically, struggling to contain the shock of encountering their idol.
"I touched him," shouted one girl to her friends, her face blushing and eyes sparkling with tears of joy. Another was trembling with excitement with her hands shaking uncontrollably. One girl threw her full weight onto a friend's embrace, too shaken to stand on her own.
But it was not a movie star or a pop sensation who visited the Ibnu Sina boarding school in East Java's Banyuwangi Regency on Jan 10. Instead, it was a young politician named Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who was out campaigning as part of his bid to become Indonesia's next vice president.
Mr Gibran – a skinny, youthful-looking 36-year-old who holds a bachelor's degree from the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) – is the running mate of Mr Prabowo Subianto, the chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).
Mr Prabowo is the front-runner in the Indonesian presidential election set to take place on Feb 14 and has been dominating recent polls on candidates' popularity.
Several pollsters have put the popularity of the Prabowo-Gibran ticket at between 45 and 47 per cent, way ahead of their rivals: Mr Ganjar Pranowo and his running mate Mr Mahfud MD (24-27 per cent) as well as Mr Anies Baswedan and his vice-presidential candidate Mr Muhaimin Iskandar (21-23 per cent).
Before naming Mr Gibran – who spent his formative years in Singapore as a student at Orchid Park Secondary School – as his running mate in October, Mr Prabowo's popularity stood at around 37 per cent.
This was just a slight lead over the current ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) candidate Ganjar, who at the time secured the support of 34.5 per cent of those surveyed.
Mr Prabowo's dramatic rise in popularity has often been credited to the so-called "Jokowi effect" by pundits. They were referring to Mr Gibran's father, Indonesia's current president Joko Widodo who has many loyal supporters and an approval rating of 77 per cent, according to the latest survey conducted by Indikator Politik Indonesia on Jan 18.
But Mr Gibran does have his own contribution in swinging voters in Mr Prabowo's favour.
Throughout the campaign season which officially began on Nov 28, it was hard for Mr Gibran to go anywhere without getting mobbed by thousands of screaming fans eager to get close. At times, the scuffle got so hairy it led to people getting knocked off their feet.
"I shook his hands. I was very happy even though I had to tussle with many people," Mdm Hilmiah, a 49-year-old chef who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told CNA.
The woman first met Mr Gibran at an aerobics event at a theme park in Banyuwangi on Jan 10. Mdm Hilmiah said she was not content with her brief encounter and followed Mr Gibran's on his next agenda: a cooking contest at a hotel some nine kilometres away.
A game changer
When Mr Prabowo chose Mr Gibran as his running mate, many were at first sceptical, including the nine political parties supporting the ticket.
"Some say he is too young. Too inexperienced," Mr Budiman Sujatmiko, an advisor at the Prabowo-Gibran campaign team, told CNA.
At that point, Mr Gibran had only served in the bureaucracy as mayor of Surakarta City – which is also known as Solo – for two-and-a-half years. Before entering politics, he was in the catering business and had a stake in a wide range of ventures, mostly partnering with his younger brother Kaesang Pangarep. Mr Kaesang is now the chairman of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI).
To the average Indonesians, Mr Gibran was known as no more than just the president's son.
His popularity was also trailing behind more well-known and seasoned bureaucrats and politicians like state-owned enterprise minister Erick Thohir and former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil who both supported Mr Prabowo's bid for the presidency.
Which is why when Mr Prabowo picked Mr Gibran, many pundits and activists suspected some backroom dealings between the former and Mr Gibran's influential father. Mr Budiman of the Prabowo-Gibran campaign team denied such dealings.
This upcoming election is Mr Prabowo's third time running for the presidency, having lost two previous ones to Mr Widodo. In 2014, Mr Prabowo partnered with senior politician Hatta Rajasa who at the time was 60. Meanwhile in 2019, Mr Prabowo chose businessman Sandiaga Uno, then 49, as his running mate.
"Prabowo wanted a fresh face," Mr Budiman said.
And months later Mr Gibran proved to be an asset for Mr Prabowo, a 72-year-old retired army general known for giving fiery speeches.
While Mr Prabowo prefers attending major rallies in big cities and provincial capitals or having private meetings with local figures with barely enough time to interact with average voters, Mr Gibran has opted for the opposite, expanding the ticket's reach beyond the presidential candidate's traditional voter bases.
Mr Gibran's presence has also softened Mr Prabowo's image, once seen as a no-nonsense former military commander who has been accused of orchestrating some of Indonesia's worst human rights cases, to that of what many described as an adorable grandpa.
Mr Gibran, the eldest of Jokowi's three children, is married to a former beauty queen and television presenter, Selvi Ananda Putri, 35. Together, the pair have an eight-year-old son named Jan Ethes Srinarendra and a four-year-old daughter named La Lembah Manah.
A crowd puller
During a campaign trail in Banyuwangi on Jan 10, which CNA followed, Mr Gibran began his day by having talks with young entrepreneurs from the regency, listening to their aspirations and the challenges they face while visiting their stalls and sampling their products.
"Banyuwangi has a great potential," he said, adding that the regency is set to become a major tourist destination when a planned toll road, which his father's administration is currently constructing, is scheduled to be completed at the end of the year.
He then proceeded to interact with local fishermen at a nearby park, attending an aerobics event, a cooking competition before ending his trip at the Ibnu Sina boarding school.
In between his campaign agendas, Mr Gibran made time to interact with celebrity YouTubers and social media influencers.
Wherever he went, he drew huge crowds of people wanting to snap a selfie or shake his hands, forcing Mr Gibran to take baby steps as hulking minders struggled to control his frenzied supporters and make way for him. No one seemed to care about the line of senior politicians, local figures and celebrities walking behind him for Mr Gibran outshined them all.
Mr Gibran tried his best to shake everyone's hands but it was hard to gauge if he was enjoying the spotlight. He was mostly quiet when people screamed his name with barely a smile on his face. Mr Gibran also ignored calls from reporters following his campaign trail that day for a brief interview.
The vice-presidential candidate also kept mostly to himself when other people were on stage, observing quietly as other politicians seated around him were busy mingling and chatting with each other.
But when it came time for him to make his speech, Mr Gibran transformed from a quiet listener to a confident speaker capable of moving the crowd.
"Thank you for your welcome. The people of Banyuwangi have been very kind," he said to the cheers and thunderous applause from his adoring supporters before proceeding to introduce the ticket's key programmes.
The same confidence was shown when Mr Gibran squared off against his rivals Muhaimin and Mahfud during a vice-presidential debate on Dec 22. Mr Gibran was able to communicate the pair's vision clearly and threw in some counterpunches when his rivals grilled or attacked him.
For Mdm Istifadah, who goes by one name, the debate showed that Mr Gibran had a lot more to offer than his youth and connection to the sitting president.
"I was impressed. I hope he becomes a good leader who can embrace everyone," said the 47-year-old snack seller who came to see the vice-presidential candidate at the aerobics event.
Mr Arya Fernandes of the Jakarta-based think-tank, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, echoed the sentiment.
"His performance at the (Dec 22) vice-presidential debate was beyond people's expectations. He was quite impressive, showing that he was in tune with the latest issues," the political expert told CNA.
But it takes a lot more to convince the public that he is of "vice-presidential material", the pundit said.
"He has been trying to prove that he is a worthy candidate and more than just the president's son. But this image is hard to shake off," Mr Arya said.
One factor is his inexperience and lack of political achievement which might not convince people that Mr Gibran is himself a noteworthy leader.
"The progress in Solo was largely the work of his father and F X Rudy. Gibran was simply continuing what they have done," he said, referring to Mr Jokowi's successor as mayor, Fransiskus Xaverius Hadi Rudyatmo.
A controversial figure
Mr Gibran was originally not qualified to run in the presidential election because the law requires a presidential or vice-presidential candidate to be at least 40 years of age.
But Indonesia's Constitutional Court, which at the time was chaired by Mr Gibran's uncle, Professor Anwar Usman, ruled on Oct 16 that the age requirement does not apply to elected government officials.
The decision sparked massive public outcry and protests. Prof Anwar has since stepped down as the Constitutional Court's chairman though this does not alter the outcome of the case.
Mr Prabowo's rival, Mr Anies also criticised the ruling during two presidential debates, saying it was unethical for the front-runner to name Mr Gibran as his running mate by taking advantage of such a controversial ruling.
Mr Gibran said he was unfazed by Mr Anies's criticism and urged his supporters to do the same.
"I also ask of you – if there is slander, mockery or negative news (about the Prabowo-Gibran ticket), there is no need to respond. We just focus on winning (the election)," he said in his speech at the boarding school, a message which was repeated throughout his campaign trail.
But not everyone in Banyuwangi is enthusiastic about Mr Gibran's visit to the regency.
Mr Muhammad Nur Rahman, 53 said he is not convinced with Mr Gibran's ability to lead the country and thus refused to attend any of the vice-presidential candidate's activities, despite the fact that there is one a stone's throw away from where he lives.
"Gibran has not proven himself yet to be a good leader, not like his father," Mr Rahman, who said he is an avid supporter of Jokowi, told CNA.
Unlike Mr Gibran who has only been mayor for three years, his father Jokowi was the mayor of Surakarta for 10 years and the governor of Indonesia's capital Jakarta for two years before running for president. During his terms, Mr Jokowi had received numerous accolades for initiating a number of breakthrough programmes.
His short time in the bureaucracy is perhaps one reason why Mr Gibran's achievements as mayor were noticeably absent from his campaign speeches.
University student Robi Fahmi said regardless of how people feel about the president's son, he is happy that a young person like Mr Gibran is running for vice president.
"During previous (presidential) elections there has never been a (candidate) this young," the 20-year-old told CNA, adding that Mr Gibran's candidacy shows that the older generations are not the only ones who deserve to participate at the centre of Indonesia's political scene. "We as youths are very proud." – CNA/ni(as)