Commentary: Politics is a family business in Indonesia

File photo of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, at a public hearing with members of the regional House of Representatives in Solo, central Java, on Oct 19, 2023. SINGAPORE: Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo is expanding his family dynasty, son by son. The announcement that his eldest child Gibran Rakabuming Raka has been picked as Defence Ministeris just the latest in a series of political manoeuvres that have cemented his image as a Javanese kingmaker.

I first met him more than a decade ago, when he was governor of Jakarta. At the time, chatting to him in a leafy green park in his white crisp linen shirt and sandals, I was struck by his sincerity and disruptor mentality. As an outsider, he could see the obvious issues that needed to be fixed within the political establishment and there appeared to be a genuine desire on his part to change things.

How things have changed. If you want to do well in politics in Indonesia, it certainly helps to be related to Jokowi., in 2020 he was elected mayor of his home city of Solo. The young politician won by a landslide in large part thanks to Jokowi’s popularity and social capital. Jokowi has batted away any suggestion that his family benefits because he is the head of state. If Indonesians want to vote them in, he told me in an interview in 2020, I can’t stop them. It is the public’s decision.

Indonesia's Defence Minister and presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, along with his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the eldest son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Surakarta's Mayor, speak to journalists before registering themselves for next year's presidential election, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Oct 25, 2023. That backlash is already beginning.

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