Indonesia election: Jokowi teases ‘brave, gutsy’ Ganjar Pranowo as successor, as Prabowo goes off script
Outgoing Indonesian President Joko Widodo hasn’t formally endorsed a successor yet, but he’s not been shy about dropping hintsHis vote already looked to be going to Ganjar Pranowo, and Prabowo Subianto’s loose lips on a Ukraine peace plan may only have hardened his resolveIndonesiaResty Woro YuniarPublished: 12:00pm, 11 Jun, 2023Why you can trust SCMP
As Widodo, 61, draws to the end of his second and final five-year term, his remarks last week during a meeting of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), suggested to many that he has anointed his political heir.
“A future leader [should be] like Mr. Ganjar Pranowo, the most important thing [a leader should have] is courage, [they should have] bravery and guts. I can see that Ganjar has that quality,” Widodo said on Tuesday.
February’s election will be held in the wake of a pandemic that has tugged on Indonesia’s hopes of becoming a “high income” nation by 2045 and spurred a global inflation crisis that has made life more expensive for many in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.