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​Indonesia's Defence Minister and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto is gesturing to his supporters during an election campaign rally at the Gelora Delta stadium in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, on February 9, 2024, ahead of Indonesia's presidential and legislative polls scheduled to be held on February 14.

Indonesia's Defence Minister and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto is gesturing to his supporters during an election campaign rally at the Gelora Delta stadium in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, on February 9, 2024, ahead of Indonesia's presidential and legislative polls scheduled to be held on February 14.

(Photo by Suryanto Putramudji/NurPhoto)
The world’s third largest democracy will organize the largest single-day polls in 2024 on Valentine’s Day as candidates jostle over the legacy of outgoing President Joko Widodo (aka Jokowi), relations with China, and how the largest Muslim country in the world approaches the war in Gaza.

The candidates: The immensely popular Jokowi is term-limited, but his son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, is running for vice president alongside current defense minister Prabowo Subianto.

They are running about 20 percentage points ahead of their main rivals with about 46.7% of voters supporting them pre-election. Ganjar Pranowo, governor of densely populated Central Java, is in second place with about 24% of the vote, and independent candidate Anies Baswedan is close behind at 21%.

Where things stand: There isn’t much daylight between the candidates on policy, as each attempts to outdo the others in their promises to continue Jokowi’s successful economic policies, continue balancing friendly relations with both Beijing and Washington and support Palestinians amid the conflict in Gaza.

Should no candidate attain an outright majority of the votes next month, a second round will be held in June.

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