Presidential elections were held in Indonesia on 14 February 2024 with defence minister and former general Prabowo Subianto contesting the elections against the former governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan and the former governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo; incumbent president Joko Widodo was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in office.
On 20 March, the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced Prabowo's victory, having received over 96 million votes. Prabowo and his vice-presidential candidate, Gibran Rakabuming, were sworn in on 20 October 2024.
The presidential election was held together with the legislative election for members of the House of Representatives (DPR), the Senate (DPD), provincial legislative councils (DPRD Provinsi), and regency or municipal legislative councils (DPRD Kabupaten or DPRD Kota) throughout Indonesia.
The elevation of Prabowo to the presidency prompted concerns from scholars and observers about democratic backsliding in Indonesia.
Background
The 2014 and 2019 presidential elections were contested by the same two candidates. These are Prabowo Subianto, who was nominated by parties supporting the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration, and Joko Widodo, who was mostly supported by the opposition and subsequently won. Jokowi won reelection in 2019 by winning 55.5% of the votes.
The President of Indonesia is directly elected every five years. As stipulated in Article 7 of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, incumbent President Joko Widodo is ineligible to run for a third term. The presidential election was required to be held before the end of his current term on 20 October 2024.
In the 2019 election, Joko Widodo was re-elected with Ma'ruf Amin as his running mate. He chose his opponent in the election, Prabowo Subianto, as Minister of Defense after a reconciliation meeting in July 2019. The meeting, which ended the political feud between both men, also resulted in Gerindra Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN) in joining the governing Onward Indonesia Coalition (Koalisi Indonesia Maju).
Electoral system
The general election period is regulated in Article 6A and Article 22E of the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and by the Law on General Elections. The presidential and vice-presidential candidate pairs are proposed by political parties or coalitions of political parties that have at least 20% of the seats in the House of Representatives (DPR) or at least 25% of the national vote from the previous House of Representatives general election. Of the parties in the 2019–2024 DPR, only PDI-P could nominate a pair of candidates without a coalition with other parties, given that the party met the presidential threshold requirement of at least 115 seats in the outgoing DPR." Some non-parliamentary political parties, both parties participating in the previous election and new parties after 2019, could choose to be supporting parties for a presidential candidate.
A runoff is held if no candidates obtains more than 50% of the votes with at least 20% of the votes in more than half of the provinces in Indonesia in the first round. As of 2024, a runoff has only ever taken place in 2004. This election is the first election since 2009 to have more than two candidates.
Candidates
Nominees
Anies–Muhaimin
Former Governor of DKI Jakarta (2017‒2022) and Minister of Education and Culture (2014‒2016), Anies Baswedan, became the first presidential candidate nominated by a political party and managed to obtain a recommendation from the results of the national working meeting of the NasDem Party. He was endorsed by the Coalition of Change, which included the NasDem Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and the Democratic Party. At that time, PKS nominated former West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan as Anies' vice presidential candidate. Similarly, the Democratic Party nominated its chairman and rival in the 2017 gubernatorial election, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono. Initially, Anies classed Agus' name as his running-mate. Over time, the coalition experienced political dynamics with the departure of the Democrats in favour of Prabowo's candidacy after the entry of PKB from the Great Indonesia Awakening Coalition which supported Prabowo, as the National Awakening Party (PKB) joined the Coalition of Change (Koalisi Perubahan) in support of Anies. The PKB's entry was accompanied by an agreement to pair Anies with their chairman, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) (1999‒2009, and 2019‒present) and Minister of Labor and Transmigration (2009‒2014), Muhaimin Iskandar. Previously, he had been proposed by his party, PKB, as a vice-presidential candidate for Joko Widodo in the previous general election. He was even predicted to be nominated as a presidential candidate if he was not chosen as Jokowi's running mate.
Prabowo–Gibran
Prabowo Subianto was nominated by the Gerindra Party (Gerindra) as the presidential candidate on 12 August 2022. This was followed by two United Indonesia Coalition (KIB) member parties and non-parliamentary parties that became the forerunner of the Advanced Indonesia Coalition (Koalisi Indonesia Maju) after the dissolution of the Great Indonesia Awakening Coalition (Koalisi Kebangkitan Indonesia Raya) with the National Awakening Party (PKB). This will be Prabowo's fourth presidential run since he was Megawati Sukarnoputri's vice-presidential candidate in 2009. He is backed by the two KIB member parties, Golkar and PAN, as well as the non-parliamentary parties that formed the Advanced Indonesia Coalition after the dissolution of the Great Indonesia Awakening Coalition with PKB. The Democratic Party and the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) joined later. PSI's support for Prabowo came after the appointment of Kaesang Pangarep, Gibran's younger brother, as party chairman.
On 22 October 2023, President Joko Widodo's eldest son and Mayor of Surakarta, Gibran Rakabuming, was announced as a vice presidential candidate following a nomination by Golkar, even though at that time of announcement, Gibran was still a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). He is only 36 years old but was allowed to run after the Constitutional Court (MK) ruling on 16 October 2023 which allowed presidential or vice presidential candidates under the age of 40 if they have been or are currently serving as governor, regent, or mayor. After his nomination, Gibran, who was a PDI-P cadre, had his membership terminated, followed by his brother-in-law who is also the mayor of Medan since 2021, Bobby Nasution, after his declaration of support for Prabowo-Gibran.
Ganjar–Mahfud
The end of Joko Widodo's presidency in 2024 led the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to search for a presidential candidate to replace him. Central Java Governor (2013‒2023) and former member of the House of Representatives (2004‒2013), Ganjar Pranowo, was nominated for president by PDI-P. His name was announced by PDI-P Chair Megawati. Previously, there were rumours of PDI-P's nomination of Puan Maharani to be paired with Prabowo as a vice presidential candidate. Puan was eventually nominated by the party to become a legislative candidate for the House of Representatives. In addition, NasDem also nominated Ganjar's name as one of the presidential candidates in its national working meeting, although his nomination was mandated to Anies. Hanura, a non-parliamentary party, also supported Ganjar as a presidential candidate. Hanura became the first supporting party after Ganjar's nomination by PDI-P that gave birth to political cooperation without a coalition. A few days later, the United Development Party (PPP) also endorsed Ganjar. The two parties also collaborated in the legislative election. Afterwards, Perindo also nominated Ganjar amid rumours that his party would join the Great Indonesia Awakening Coalition that would later support Prabowo. Long before PDI-P endorsed Ganjar, PSI first named him as its presidential candidate and Yenny Wahid, daughter of former President Abdurrahman Wahid, as its vice president. Later, PSI cancelled its support for Ganjar following its party congress. This came after PDI-P politician Said Abdullah proposed Anies as one of Ganjar's potential running mates. This proposal was ignored by NasDem as the party that led Anies' candidacy.
On 18 October 2023, Ganjar followed Anies in announcing his running mate. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs and former member of the House of Representatives (2004‒2008) and Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) (2008‒2013), Mahfud MD, was announced as the vice presidential candidate for Ganjar, which was announced directly by Megawati. Mahfud had previously been tapped as a running mate for Joko Widodo in 2019 before being replaced by Ma'ruf Amin in the final seconds before the announcement. That day, he had prepared a white shirt in line with Jokowi's symbolic campaign attire. The shirt was eventually worn again during the submission of the vice presidential candidate with Ganjar. The registration of this candidate pair followed Anies-Muhaimin's submission to the KPU on 19 October 2023.
General election
Campaign
Prior to joining Joko Widodo's government, Prabowo Subianto was known for being assertive and expressive as a reflection of his previous profession as a soldier. In each of his presidential campaigns, he criticised Jokowi's policies. Likewise, his speeches showed Prabowo's firm stance that positioned himself as part of the opposition to Jokowi. Afterwards, Prabowo appeared more cooperative, given that he was the Minister of Defence in the cabinet and made Jokowi's son and Mayor of Surakarta, Gibran as his deputy. In 2024, they expressed support for Jokowi's policies, including continuing the planning of the Nusantara Capital City as one of the national strategic projects. In his campaign, Prabowo often discussed the programme of distributing food and milk to students.
In 2024, Anies Baswedan became a new rival for Prabowo, who had previously promoted Anies as a candidate for Governor of Jakarta in 2017, just as Jokowi, who was a rival for Prabowo in the two previous presidential elections, had been promoted by Prabowo as a candidate for governor in 2012. Anies was a former cabinet minister who was dismissed by Jokowi in 2016, after which he was supported as a gubernatorial candidate by Jokowi's political opposition. He often criticised government policies in terms of bureaucracy, investment, and corruption, collusion and nepotism. During his presidential campaign, he called for a transformation of central government policies. For example, his food security programme preferred contract farming over food estates, which had been the government's programme. In addition, he accommodated the aspirations of young voters by declaring the "Bawa Idemu Movement" which is a volunteer from the regions to voice their ideas to Anies. Then, in certain forums, he was present to explain the vision and mission by opening discussions with young people.
Ganjar Pranowo pledged to continue Jokowi's development programmes to be continued if elected president. However, he initiated improvements to Jokowi's programmes and promoted a vision of accelerated development. In his campaign, he followed Jokowi's lead by conducting blusukan in traditional markets. In addition, he performed jogging exercises in public, including in Jakarta, in the hopes of achieving greater public recognition. During the campaign, Ganjar used a black shirt as a symbolic outfit in his campaign, while his deputy, Mahfud MD, wore his white shirt that had been prepared in his thwarted vice presidential bid in 2019. Later, Ganjar considered that law enforcement under Jokowi's administration was low.
On 27 November 2023, the KPU declared a peaceful campaign with the presidential and vice presidential candidate pairs and their supporting parties, as well as signing an integrity pact in maintaining safe and peaceful elections. The next day, Anies and Ganjar started their first campaign. Anies gave a speech in Tanah Merah Village, Jakarta, while his deputy Muhaimin Iskandar campaigned in Jombang, East Java, which is the base of Nahdlatul Ulama as well as his birthplace. Unlike Anies, Ganjar implemented a campaign strategy of blusukan in the western and eastern regions of Indonesia. Ganjar started in Merauke, South Papua and Mahfud visited Sabang, Aceh. While the two candidates were campaigning, Prabowo and Gibran chose to stay on duty with their positions. Gibran preceded Prabowo in campaigning on 1 December 2023 in Penjaringan, Jakarta. After that, Prabowo's first campaign was in Tasikmalaya, West Java.