Indonesia election 2024: Gibran resorts to ‘gotcha questions’, jargon in VP debate in bid to trip up rivals

The three candidates jostling to be Indonesia’s next vice-president utilised familiar tactics in their second debate on Sunday, with Gibran Rakabuming, the eldest son of President Joko Widodo, resorting to niche policy jargon and “gotcha questions” in a bid to trip up his rivals.

Critics described Gibran’s tactics as “cringe” but said they could be effective enough to keep his ticket on its winning trajectory. The 36-year-old is running alongside Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto in the February 14 election.

The debate, the fourth in a series of five between the presidential candidates, focused on sustainable development, natural resources, environment, energy, indigenous peoples rights and villages.

Muhaimin Iskandar, chairman of the National Awakening Party who is running alongside presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, started the debate by saying Indonesian farmers had long been neglected by the state. He noted that 16 million of the country’s farming households “only own half a hectare of land, while there are those who own 500,000 hectares of land with the power given to them by the state”.

The comment was a reference to Prabowo’s allegedly massive land holdings. Indonesian environmental group Walhi last week claimed that Prabowo owns nearly 500,000 hectares of land through 17 businesses in sectors including mining, forestry, and palm oil plantations. Prabowo has long denied the accusation.

Gibran, the mayor of Surakarta in Central Java, said he would continue his father’s downstreaming policy and expand it to include “agricultural, maritime, and digital” products. The initiative bans the exports of raw critical minerals such as nickel and bauxite to encourage their processing within the country. He also vowed to boost