Popular Indonesia presidential candidate pledges change from past era

SERANG, Indonesia: As one of Indonesia’s leading presidential candidates is driven away from a campaign stop, locals surround his car, screaming his name and jostling to kiss his hand through the window.

Anies Baswedan, a former governor of the capital Jakarta, is in a three-way battle ahead of February’s vote to lead the world’s third largest democracy and fourth most populous nation, with polls showing him rising toward a spot in a potential second-round runoff.

In his first interview with foreign media since registering to run last month, the 54-year-old told AFP that he is the candidate for change.

He has sought to paint himself as an alternative to the other two candidates, frontrunner and current defence minister Prabowo Subianto and Ganjar Pranowo, who has the backing of incumbent President Joko Widodo’s party.

Both have promised to largely carry on the current administration’s policies.

“We offer a change. We offer the concept of equality in policymaking,” Baswedan said from his car in western Java.

“More and more people realise that we need change.”

That includes strengthening the country’s corruption eradication commission and distributing wealth more fairly, Baswedan has pledged.

His campaign slogan -- “fair, prosperous Indonesia for all” -- promises economic development felt by everyone, not just the Indonesian elite, he said.

Achieving that goal would take a “commitment for good governance, starting from the top leader,” he said.

On foreign policy, he chided Widodo for never attending the United Nations General Assembly in person, promising that he would represent Indonesia at the annual gathering of world leaders.

“How come we don’t want to join the village’s meeting when our land is the fourth largest in the village?” he asked, referring to Indonesia’s 270 million people.

“Indonesia must be present and Indonesia must play its part. We’ll be active.”

That message appears to be catching on with voters, with Baswedan -- an independent candidate backed by three political parties -- rising in recent polls as Pranowo’s numbers have fallen. The former university rector is now closing in on Pranowo, 55, for the second runoff spot to challenge Subianto, 72. An independent poll published on December 10 showed 22.3 percent of Indonesian respondents would choose Baswedan, up from 19.6 percent in October.