Pressing forward for president

In the lead: Prabowo (left) arriving with running mate Gibran for a televised debate in Jakarta earlier this month. Jokowi supporters have been moving over to Prabowo’s side since Gibran, Jokowi’s eldest son, was named as the vice-presidential candidate in October. — AFP

“WHO will you vote for?” I asked the Grab driver, pointing at the billboards of Indonesian presidential candidates along the macet (congested) highway from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Inter-national Airport to the Indo-nesian capital.

“Prabowo. Kesian dia, dua kali gagal. Kalau tiada Jokowi, dia sudah presiden sembilan tahun lalu. (Probowo. Pity him, he failed twice. If there was no Jokowi, he would have been president nine years ago),” the driver said.