The court on Monday decided to reject a petition to lower the candidates’ age limit from 40 to 35. - PHOTO: REUTERS
JAKARTA: The Constitutional Court has kept the minimum age for Indonesia’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates at 40, but also ruled that this age limit does not apply to anyone who is an elected regional leader.
This decision paves the way for Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s elder son Gibran Rakabuming Raka to run for office in the February 2024 presidential election.
Gibran, who is mayor of Surakarta city, turned 36 on Oct 1.
The court on Monday rejected a petition to lower the candidates’ age limit from 40 to 35, in the first of several similar applications being heard on the same day.
Chief Justice Anwar Usman, who is Mr Widodo’s brother-in-law, led a panel of nine judges presiding over the matter.
The panel said determining the age limit for candidates was under the purview of lawmakers, and the petition had no “reasoning according to law”.
But later in the day – in its ruling on another petition – the court said that anyone who currently holds a position elected through general elections, including regional elections, will be allowed to run in the 2024 election, regardless of the person’s age.
Several judges, however, had a dissenting opinion to this ruling.
Indonesia is set to vote in presidential and legislative elections on Feb 14, 2024, and politicians have started campaigning, with billboards of presumptive candidates sprouting all over the archipelago.
Gibran has not personally made any announcements about officially registering for the election, a process which starts later this week.
But in recent months, politicians supporting the presidential campaign of Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, leader of Gerindra party, have asked for Mr Gibran to be his running mate.
Such a move would likely boost Mr Prabowo’s odds of winning, say observers, given the likelihood that Mr Widodo and his supporters will throw their weight behind the minister.
Just over the weekend, Prabowo received the backing of Widodo’s biggest supporter group, ProJo, in a declaration at his private residence in South Jakarta.
Like his father, Gibran is a member of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, which has announced that its candidate for president is former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo.
The party has responded to speculation about Mr Gibran’s possible team-up with Mr Prabowo by emphasising party loyalty among its members.
Recent opinion polls place Mr Prabowo and Mr Ganjar as front runners in a tight race, with a third would-be presidential hopeful, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, trailing behind.
Monday’s ruling follows several judicial review requests that have called for the age limit to be lowered.
This includes one from Indonesian Solidarity Party, a youth-based political party that has criticised the limit for being discriminatory, and is chaired by Kaesang Pangarep, Widodo’s youngest son.
Widodo started his political career by winning the mayoral seat of Surakarta, his home town, in 2005. He went on to win the Jakarta governorship in 2012, and the presidential race in 2014.
Gibran won the Surakarta mayoral seat in 2021.
Last Friday, Widodo dismissed criticism that he was building a political dynasty as the end of his term – next October – drew nearer.
Responding to a reporter who asked about the issue, he said: “Just leave it to the people.”
Last Thursday, Gibran was quoted by Indonesian daily Tempo as saying that it would be up to the people to decide if he was fit to serve, just like how the voters in Surakarta did when they elected him to office.
“Being given a ticket, or being welcomed with a red carpet, being afforded privileges – if the people don’t vote for me, then I will lose.
“The final decision will be made by the people, the public,” he said. - The Straits Times/ANN
