Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Sandiaga Uno should be on a high after their massive Kampanye Akbar (Grand Campaign) event yesterday at Jakarta's Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium, but whatever momentum the rally generated was tampered by an untimely criticism from one of Prabowo-Sandiaga's biggest allies, former president and Democratic Party Chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).
Yesterday, supporters of Prabowo-Sandiaga filled up all of GBK's seats and soccer pitch in what has become the candidate pair's biggest rally to date (Prabowo estimated as many as 1 million supporters attended while more realistic estimates put that number around 460,000 people). Their supporters, mostly dressed in white Islamic garb, took part in mass prayers during the event.
While all of that should be reason to be optimistic about Prabowo-Sandiaga's chances ahead of the April 17 vote, SBY, who has not been campaigning for the pair since his wife was diagnosed with blood cancer in February, instead expressed his concerns that the event could have alienated Prabowo-Sandiaga's non-Muslim supporters.
"In my opinion, what was done at the Grand Campaign in GBK was not appropriate and did not mirror an inclusive national campaign," SBY wrote in a letter addressed to Democratic Party executives, as picked up by CNN Indonesia.
"A national campaign (in which the Democratic Party is involved) must always mirror inclusiveness, with the idea that 'Indonesia for all' is upheld and must also mirror unity and plurality."
SBY continued that a leader who promotes identity politics is bound to be a weak leader. "I am very certain – or at least hopeful – that there is no such thought in the slightest in Pak Jokowi or Pak Prabowo," he said.
Prabowo-Sandiaga's campaign responded to SBY's letter by publicly saying that they don't cater to one specific religious group, despite the candidate pair's growing reputation of affiliation with ultra-conservative Muslims and Muslim groups.
"I believe it was open to all religions because Pak Prabowo is the president of the Indonesian people, president of all religions, president of all tribes and races in Indonesia, not just for Muslims," campaign spokesperson Andre Rosiade told CNN Indonesia yesterday.
The Democratic Party is a late addition to the Prabowo-led opposition coalition and is widely seen as an ally out of necessity rather than desire, in that the former was bound by election law to support a presidential candidate while the opposition was vastly outnumbered in terms of seats in parliament.
After remaining neutral since the 2014 election, the Democrats waited until quite late last year to pick a side between President Jokowi and Prabowo's coalitions, eventually choosing the latter after it was widely rumored that SBY's son, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, would be picked as Prabowo's running mate. Prabowo eventually picked businessman and former Jakarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno instead.
Regardless of what message Prabowo's Grand Reunion event conveyed, the losing presidential candidate of 2014 is still trailing Jokowi in most recent polls by at least 15% ahead of the April 17 election.