Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – After a half day work as Indonesia's defence minister, Mr Prabowo Subianto arrived after lunchtime on Jan 4 at the Indonesian Journalist Association (PWI) office in Jakarta, where a group of senior journalists and chief editors were ready to hear about his programmes as well as commitment to free speech and freedom of the press in the country.
"I'm being invited as a presidential candidate, aren't I?" the 72-year-old frontrunner of the upcoming Feb 14 presidential election asked PWI chairman, Mr Hendry Bangun. In a show of dramatic flair, the retired Army general then swiftly instructed his aide to remove a pin on his white, long-sleeved shirt which he had been wearing all day.
The red and white pin – featuring the official crest of the defence ministry's office – appeared to be the only thing that separates Mr Prabowo, the senior public official and Mr Prabowo, the candidate vying for the top job at Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
This was not the only time that Mr Prabowo had to switch hats within a single day.
On Dec 27, Mr Prabowo met his supporters in Bandung City, West Java as a presidential candidate in the morning while in the evening, he flew 560km to Surabaya City, East Java for a Christmas celebration with the president, Mr Joko Widodo – better known as Jokowi – and other cabinet members.
A day before, Mr Prabowo attended the 19th anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Banda Aceh as minister before meeting his supporters as a presidential candidate at the same Sumatran city in the afternoon.
The constant hat-switching is concerning to analysts and activists, who told CNA that it carries the risk of power and state resources being abused for political gains during an election cycle.
Indonesia, they said, should go back to the days when ministers and top public officials are suspended from their respective positions whenever they want to participate in the presidential election as candidates.
Ineffective campaigning
This is the first time a sitting minister is allowed to run for president without resigning.
But the constant hat-switching is affecting Mr Prabowo's ability to campaign far and wide, with an analyst alleging that the presidential candidate is unable to expand on his supporter base due to this.
His rivals Mr Anies Baswedan and Mr Ganjar Pranowo are former governors whose terms ended in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Thus, they are able to freely campaign whenever and wherever they want.
With more free time on their hands, Mr Anies and Mr Ganjar had been visiting far-flung corners of the vast archipelago, sometimes meeting voters in small towns and remote villages. They were also able to cram more agendas during their visit to a particular province and have more interactions with their respective supporters.
Mr Prabowo, on the other hand, could not campaign outside of Jakarta or travel to areas that are more than a few hours' drive from the capital city too often due to his ministerial duties.
Whenever he does find time to visit far-flung places, it is common for the presidential frontrunner to visit two or three provinces in a single day, leaving very little time to interact with his supporters.
His limited time also meant that Mr Prabowo tends to stick to big rallies inside sports venues and hotel ballrooms.
For journalists looking to cover his campaign trail, Mr Prabowo's schedule is also hard to predict. It is common for Mr Prabowo's agenda to be confirmed at the last minute because his campaign team had to coordinate his whereabouts with the defence ministry.
This year's election is Mr Prabowo's third time gunning for the top job. However, in the 2014 and 2019 elections, Mr Prabowo did not hold public office.
Back then, Mr Prabowo was able to travel more extensively for his campaign and have more time to interact with his supporters. He was also more accessible to journalists, often giving sit-down interviews and press conferences to members of the press.
In both of those elections, Mr Prabowo lost to Mr Joko Widodo, who's the incumbent Indonesian president.
With his former rival barred by the country's Constitution from running for a third term in office, Mr Prabowo has been leading the polls with various surveys rating his popularity among voters at more than 45 per cent.
The poll results, analysts say, can be attributed to the fact that Mr Prabowo is the most experienced and most recognisable candidate this election. He also has a support base which had been cultivated since the 2014 election and that his running mate this time around is Mr Jokowi's son, Mr Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
Mr Gibran has assumed a more active role in campaigning for the pair, from visiting an Islamic boarding school in the far eastern corner of Java Island to meeting local customary kings in the Maluku Islands.
With ministerial duties preventing him from campaigning as intensively as the two other tickets, Mr Prabowo's popularity seemed to have plateaued recently.
"Forty-five per cent is about the same amount of votes he received in 2019, when he was still Jokowi's rival. The fact that he cannot fully capitalise on his partnership with Jokowi's son meant there is something wrong with his campaign," Mr Hendri Satrio, a political observer at Jakarta's Paramadina University, told CNA.
A new phenomenon
During previous elections, the law stated that ministers or public officials of a similar rank must resign from their respective posts if they want to run for the presidency or vice-presidency.
The incumbent president, vice-president, members of parliament, governors and mayors were exempted from this requirement because their positions were deemed to be too strategic for the country or respective provinces and cities.
Indonesia has had four former ministers resign from their respective positions in order to run either as president or vice-president, including Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Mr Yudhoyono went from being the country's coordinating minister for politics, legal and security to Indonesia's sixth president who was in office from October 2004 to October 2014.
After losing to Mr Widodo for the second time, Mr Prabowo joined his former rival's cabinet in 2019 as defence minister.
With Mr Prabowo assuming public office, a political party supporting the minister's bid for the presidency – the Garuda Party – petitioned the country's Constitutional Court to repeal the requirement for senior officials to step down before participating in the presidential election.
On Oct 31, 2022, the court, which at the time was chaired by the president's brother-in-law, Professor Anwar Usman, struck down the requirement.
A year later, the same court also repealed the requirement for a presidential or vice-presidential candidate to be at least 40 years of age, paving the way for Mr Prabowo to pick Mr Widodo's 36-year-old son, Mr Gibran, as his running mate.
This case was among others petitioned by two parties supporting Mr Prabowo: Garuda Party and the Indonesia Solidarity Party (PSI). Mr Gibran's younger brother, Mr Kaesang Pangarep, is PSI's chairman.
Two ministers benefited from the ruling: Mr Prabowo and Mr Mahfud MD, who until recently was the coordinating minister for politics, legal and security. Mr Mahfud is the running mate of former Central Java governor, Mr Ganjar.
However, the two will still need to apply for leave days with President Widodo whenever they go out campaigning.
In November last year, a government regulation issued by Mr Widodo allowed for active ministers and regional heads running in the Feb 14 election to take one day of leave per week.
The requirement to step down still applies to active police and military personnel and state-owned enterprise officials.
Executive director of non-profit Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), Mdm Khoirunnisa Nur Agustyati stressed the court should not have repealed the requirement.
"This can lead to abuse of authority and state resources," she told CNA.
Beyond the criticisms of Mr Prabowo, his running mate Gibran has also faced calls by political party leaders in Surakarta City – where he is mayor – to step down from his post owing to his frequent leave of absences to campaign for the presidential campaign.
Allegations abound
Before he resigned on Feb 1, Mr Mahfud had promised to only campaign on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, spending the rest of the week on his duties as minister. This arrangement, he argued, made it easy for people to distinguish when he was acting as a public official and as a vice-presidential candidate.
However, Mr Prabowo has not made a similar arrangement and as a result, there have been complaints made against him that he is using his position as defence minister for political gains.
On Jan 2, Mr Prabowo was reported to the Elections Supervisory Committee (Bawaslu) for distributing cash to his supporters in Cilincing in the northern part of Jakarta. Mr Prabowo's legal team argued that he was acting as a defence minister and that his visit was part of the ministry's programme to help the needy in renovating their dilapidated houses.
Mr Julius Ibrani, of the Indonesian Legal Aid Association (PBHI) questioned what the renovation programme had to do with his official duties as defence minister.
"Why is our defence budget being used for projects that have nothing to do with the country's defence?" the PBHI chairman told CNA.
Mr Julius said several non-for-profit organisations and watchdogs have recorded a number of similar non-defence related programmes initiated by Mr Prabowo's ministry in the lead up to the election, like water distribution programmes for remote villages in West Java.
"There are indications of abuse of authority and a hidden campaign involving Prabowo Subianto," he claimed.
The Prabowo campaign team denied that the defence minister had abused his authority, highlighting that none of the allegations were upheld by the Bawaslu.
"Wherever he went, (Prabowo) made clear to the audience whether he came as a candidate or as a minister," Mr Budiman Sujatmiko, an adviser to Mr Prabowo's campaign team, told CNA.
Bawaslu chairman Rahmat Bagja admitted that the court ruling has meant more work for his team.
"We are always vigilant so that no one is breaking the rules," he told CNA but added that with the stepping down requirement out of the picture, the task has not been easy.
Mr Hendri of Paramadina University said the Bawaslu also needs to keep an eye on a number of active ministers who have since become part of Mr Prabowo and Mr Ganjar's campaign teams.
"There has been an increase in social aid programmes as the election draws near. Are these legitimate government programmes or are they vote buying in disguise?" he said.
Mr Prabowo has five active ministers and vice-ministers joining his campaign team including coordinating minister for the economy, Mr Airlangga Hartarto as well as trade minister Zulkifli Hasan.
Meanwhile Mr Ganjar has one minister and one vice-minister in his team: Tourism minister Sandiaga Uno and his vice-minister Angela Tanoesudibjo.
Mdm Khoirunnisa of Perludem told CNA that ethically speaking, the ministers running as candidates – as well as those serving in their respective campaign teams – should resign from their posts despite the regulations saying that they do not have to.
"(Resigning) is the only way conflict of interests and public suspicion can be avoided," she said.
"Election is not only about the result but also the process. If the public is questioning the process it can impact the public's acceptance towards the election result."