Jakarta, February 11 (EFE).- The controversial Minister of Defense and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto stressed his confidence in winning the elections on February 14 in Indonesia and becoming president of this country, the third most populated democracy and with the largest number of Muslims in the world.
“All the figures (from the polls) show it… the enthusiasm of the bases. All the figures show that we will achieve it (victory) in the first round,” Prabowo said in an interview with the Al Jazeera network published this Sunday.
In a break from a rally on Saturday on the last day of the campaign, the former general, accused of human rights violations as head of the special forces between 1995 and 1998, referred to polls that give him a large majority.
If he obtains an absolute majority, he will be declared president without having to go to a second round in June.
Prabowo also referred to the controversy regarding his electoral partner, Gibran Rakabuming, candidate for the vice presidency and son of the current president, Joko Widodo.
Gibran, 36 years old and mayor of the city of Surakarta, was able to present his candidacy after the Constitutional Court lowered the minimum age for candidates from 40 to 35 if they had political experience, which has been criticized as favored treatment. .
“If you realize, the fact that a vice president is under 40 years old is normal in many countries in the West. In Indonesia it is controversial, not because he is under 40 but because he is the son of President Joko Widodo, which makes people uncomfortable. in some circles. But that’s politics. You can’t please everyone all the time,” he said.
Prabowo, who stated that he will follow his country’s traditional policy of “non-alignment” to get along with all powers, indicated that his priority will be to alleviate poverty and end hunger in Indonesia.
“I want to end stunting of children in Indonesia. The numbers are not good, at least 25 percent of children are stunted in some peripheral areas,” he explained.
Regarding the support of young people, Prabowo stated that they are worried about their future and that they support politicians with a good program.
“Today’s young people are more rational, they are more critical, they are more intelligent, they feel what is authentic and what is not,” he added.
The other presidential candidates are former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, who are trailing in the polls.
205 million Indonesians called to vote
Some 205 million Indonesians, more than half between 18 and 40 years old, are called to vote next Wednesday to elect the president, the vice president, 580 members of the Lower House, 152 of the Upper House, 2,372 provincial representatives and 17,510 at the municipal level.
There will be more than 823,000 polling stations throughout this archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, which is part of the group of 20 largest economies in the world (G20), in addition to being the third most populated democracy and the nation with the most Muslims in the world. .
Prabowo, who was the son-in-law of dictator Suharto (1968-1998), was expelled from the Army after being accused of human rights violations as head of Indonesia’s special forces, which earned him a ban on entering the United States for years.
The popularity of Prabowo Subianto, who lost the last two elections against Widodo in 2014 and 2019, is also interpreted in part due to the boost given to his image on social networks, where dances of the septuagenarian have become viral and younger Indonesians They describe the former general as an “endearing grandfather.”
By: EFE
2024-02-11 13:56:34
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