JAKARTA – Campaigning for Indonesia’s presidential election kicked off officially on Nov 28, with two of the three candidates pounding the ground to win over the archipelago’s more than 200 million eligible voters.

The hustings will run until Feb 10, 2024, followed by a three-day cooling-off period before voting day, which will see Indonesia choosing a new leader. President Joko Widodo is serving his second term and is constitutionally not allowed to seek another.

The three pairs in the contest are former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, 54, and his running mate, former minister Muhaimin Iskandar, 57; former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, 55, and Chief Security Minister Mahfud MD, 66; and Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, 72, and Solo Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, the elder son of Mr Widodo.

Mr Ganjar and Mr Mahfud, who are candidates for the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, started their campaign trail on opposite ends of the archipelago.

In the town of Merauke in South Papua, the most eastern part of Indonesia, Mr Ganjar arrived in the morning and spent the day greeting residents, religious leaders and influencers, as well as young voters.

Mr Mahfud met voters on Sabang Island in Aceh, in the western tip of Indonesia, where he spoke to them in the local language, and they sang songs together.

“We deliberately chose these two points in Indonesia: One at the east end where the sun rises, the other at the west end, because we want Indonesian unity,” said Mr Ganjar.

Mr Anies started his morning by visiting his mother in the Lebak Bulus area of South Jakarta before heading to the Kampung Tanah Merah area in the northern part of the city.

His running mate, Mr Muhaimin, met voters in Surabaya, a city in East Java. The province, which has more than 30 million voters, has historically been a key battleground in presidential elections.

After arriving in Tanah Merah on a motorcycle, Mr Anies gave a speech that touched on how the area was significant for him, given how he started his campaign for the city’s governorship there in 2017.

“Now, we will walk towards a mandate, which is currently being regulated through national-level elections. I am starting from the village where we used to start in Jakarta,” he said. He later met voters in various other locations in the greater Jakarta area.

Unlike their competitors, Mr Prabowo and Mr Gibran did not hit the ground on the first day; instead both turned up at their respective offices to continue their work as officials.

The secretary of the national campaign team for the Prabowo-Gibran ticket, Mr Nusron Wahid, said on the evening of Nov 27 that the two men did not take leave and were continuing their work as usual. He added that they would start their ground campaign on Dec 1.

The media spotlight for the past month has been focused on the two, after it was announced that Mr Gibran would be Mr Prabowo’s running mate.

This came after Indonesia’s Constitutional Court in October ruled that the minimum age of 40 to run for the nation’s top posts would not apply to anyone who has held or currently holds a position won through a general election, including regional ballots.

Surveys indicate that the two are in pole position, with a poll by the Survey and Polling Institute of Indonesia reporting on Nov 27 that 43 per cent of voters back the Prabowo-Gibran pair.

According to the survey, done from Nov 1 to 10 and involving more than 2,100 respondents across the provinces of Indonesia, the Ganjar-Mahfud ticket was second at 26.1 per cent, followed by Mr Anies and Mr Muhaimin, who were supported by 22.7 per cent.

On Nov 27, all the candidates gathered at the General Elections Commission (KPU) to pledge to maintain peace on the campaign trail.

In his remarks, KPU chairman Hasyim Asy’ari stressed that the campaign period should be used by participants to promote the positive aspects of their election bids, instead of deriding their opponents.

“A healthy election and campaign season should not focus on the negatives of their rivals,” he said.

The candidates will also be appearing in debates organised by the KPU in the coming weeks, although no schedule has been revealed yet.

Indonesians will cast their votes for their next president and vice-president, as well their lawmakers and councillors, on Feb 14, 2024.