Prabowo Subianto: Promoting a pragmatic approach for Indonesia

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In Indonesia, the next presidential election is set to be held in 2014. While the current president is constitutionally barred from running for office a third consecutive time, Prabowo Subianto has already started his campaign, and is rapidly gaining the population’s support.

As a former commander of Indonesia’s special forces, Prabowo Subianto is the current front-runner to be the next president of Indonesia. The ballot will take place in 2014; however, Subianto has already started his campaign. A survey conducted last month by The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) indicates that Subianto is the most popular candidate in the race so far. He is projected to gain 20% of votes, compared to 15.3% of votes that Megawati Sukarnoputri is estimated to gain, his main challenger.

Even though Subianto is remarkably confident about the future of Indonesia, he is quite aware of the country’s vast gap between the rich and poor populations. According to Stanley Weiss, in The Huffington Post, “Indonesia is a young country, rich in resources with a seemingly unlimited future. It is among the fastest growing economies in the world. But it is also a nation of massive traffic jams, power shortages and high-profile corruption.”

Ready to address the many challenges that Indonesia has to overcome, Subianto is strengthening his position of leadership within the political landscape of the country. The first weeks of his electoral campaign have revealed a candidate who has embodied the kind of strength that Indonesia needs, going forward.

Subianto is thus promoting a pragmatic approach to face Indonesia’s problems. “Prabowo Subianto leads the pack because he projects grit, firm leadership, and decisiveness – all of which are seen to be lacking in our current leadership,” former Minister of Defence Juwono Sudarsono stated. This is exactly the kind of political message that the population expects, which in turn, has fuelled the growing popularity of Subianto.

However, as it is still very early in the election process- two years before the actual election- Subianto is the only presidential contender who has already begun his campaign by putting forward his election proposals. Is this his first step on the road to becoming Indonesia’s next president?