Indonesia, dubbed the “third largest democracy in the world,” will elect the eighth president on the 14th.
Anis is a former scholar and former governor of Jakarta. He is the only candidate who has yet to promise to continue President Jokowi’s project to build the new capital, Nusantara. Anis usually refers to equality and fair development. His promotions on TikTok and X have put him ahead of Ganzar in recent polls. His supporters have drawn attention on social media for following the K-pop style of promoting him by calling him “Park Anis” by the Korean nickname “Nice.”
No. 2 Prabowo is a former commander of a special forces unit and the current defense minister. He vowed that he would most definitely inherit the president’s policies. During his campaign, Prabowo focused on delivering a softer and more friendly look. The Prabowo camp is actively using TikTok. In order to shed his image as a general, Prabowo emphasized his cute image, including dancing videos, and Gibran posted videos that follow various TikTok trends as a young generation. Some of his videos have received more than 20 million views.
Candidate No. 3 Ganjar has served as governor of Central Java and has extensive public service experience.
Analysts say that the presidential election does not clearly show ideological differentiation among candidates. There are not many differences that can determine voters in terms of external relations, infrastructure development, education and welfare policies. For this reason, each candidate’s personality was highlighted in the campaign phase.
Social networks are being used in this election for younger generations to vote. It seems positive that there are more elections centered on older generations through SNS and more diverse generations can vote.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
