Avid marathoner Ganjar Pranowo laces up running shoes to go the distance in race to be Indonesia’s eighth president

MERAUKE, South Papua: The sun had barely risen over the horizon in Merauke, Indonesia’s easternmost city located in the province of South Papua, but Mr Ganjar Pranowo - one of three presidential candidates for Indonesia's election next year - was already set to start his day. 

The date was Nov 29 - the second day where candidates were allowed to campaign during a 75-day official campaigning period - and Mr Ganjar was dressed in a long-sleeve black t-shirt, leggings and a pair of running shorts to start his daily morning routine: walking and running. 

Just the day before, Mr Ganjar and his team arrived in Merauke after taking a non-stop chartered flight from the country’s capital Jakarta at 1am, landing six hours later.

The distance from Jakarta to Merauke is about 3,700km, which is equal to the distance between Jakarta and Taipei.

“Campaigning or not campaigning, exercising is necessary to be healthy,” said Mr Ganjar, adding that he had participated in many marathons in the last 20 years.

“I need to train myself, I need to be disciplined. Just like him,” Mr Ganjar said, pointing to Mr Andika Perkasa, the deputy chairman of his campaign team who was walking alongside him. 

Mr Andika, Indonesia’s former military chief who retired in 2022, is known to be an avid weightlifter. He told CNA that he woke up at 3am that morning to do some weightlifting. 

Mr Ganjar’s resolve to stick to his morning routine of running to keep fit despite being away from home is indicative of his ambition to be in tip-top shape should he win Indonesia's presidential election next year and take office.

AMBITIOUS SMILING RUNNER

With the endorsement of his political party, Mr Ganjar began the campaign trail in his bid to become Indonesia’s next president in the restive region of Papua. 

Limited access to healthcare and education as well as a lack of infrastructure are problems locals experience in the impoverished city and region of about 240,000 people.

During his morning run, Mr Ganjar stopped and waved at passers-by, occasionally chatting with some. 

“I used to cycle. But one day, I fell … So my wife said: ‘Let’s do something else.’ Since the (incident 20 years ago), we have started walking or running or, if I don’t have much time, swimming,” he told CNA, who accompanied him for his morning exercise exclusively.

Despite his packed schedule and the long trip to Merauke, Mr Ganjar was cheerful in his exchanges and impromptu visits - a trait he developed during his 10-year tenure as Central Java governor which ended in September.

He remained smiley and cheerful when answering questions members of PDI-P seemed to avoid, namely about President Joko Widodo.

Mr Widodo is a member of the same political party as Mr Ganjar but does not appear to be endorsing his comrade for the election next year. 

Mr Widodo’s 36-year-old son Gibran Rakabuming Raka is a vice-presidential candidate running alongside 72-year-old Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, who is also chairman of Indonesia’s third largest party, the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra).

Mr Prabowo is vying to be president for the third time, having been defeated twice by Mr Widodo in 2014 and 2019.

Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, cannot run again because the constitution only allows a president to serve for a maximum of two terms.

Although Jokowi said he is backing everyone, many believe that he supports his son and Mr Prabowo. 

This means he is deviating from the wish of PDI-P, the party that brought him to the top job. 

The move came as a blow to many - especially those within PDI-P - and some analysts believe it is a form of betrayal against the party. 

But is Mr Ganjar actually surprised? 

“Every time there is an election, there are always surprises. But I am fully aware that a person has the right to vote and has a political stance,” he told CNA with a smile.

“And if that’s the case, then we will be different. That’s the decision.”

RUNNING THE DISTANCE BUT LAGGING BEHIND 

PDI-P announced Mr Ganjar as its presidential candidate in April.

He was the third and last person to be announced as a potential presidential candidate after Mr Prabowo declared his intention to run again in August last year.

Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan was the second, having been endorsed by the country’s fourth-biggest party, the National Democratic Party (Nasdem), in October 2022. 

When Mr Ganjar was first announced by PDI-P’s chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri as the party’s candidate, he was leading in a number of polls as the most popular potential presidential candidate. 

This, analysts attributed, was due to Mr Ganjar’s similar leadership style as Mr Widodo.

Their backgrounds are also similar, having come from humble beginnings. 

But things took a turn for Mr Ganjar and his popularity began to dip after Mr Widodo started showing signs that he was leaning towards Mr Prabowo, triggering support for the defence minister. 

When Mr Prabowo announced Mr Gibran - Mr Widodo’s son - as his running mate in October, several surveys showed he was the frontrunner, overtaking Mr Ganjar.

In the latest opinion survey released on Dec 27 on who the public will vote for in the upcoming election by think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Mr Ganjar and Mr Mahfud came in last place among the three pairs of candidates with an electability rating of 19.4 per cent.

The survey saw frontrunner Mr Prabowo and his vice-presidential candidate with 43.7 per cent of the vote while Mr Anies and Mr Muhaimin Iskandar received 26.1 per cent.

A day earlier, pollster Indikator Politik released its survey that showed Mr Prabowo and Mr Gibran leading as the most preferred presidential and vice-presidential candidates with 46.7 per cent of the vote.

Mr Ganjar and Mr Mahfud came second with 24.5 per cent followed by Mr Anies and his running mate Mr Muhaimin who received 21 per cent.

Mr Ganjar acknowledged the reality when asked whether Mr Widodo’s apparent support may give a certain presidential candidate pairing an advantage.

“Well yes … there are always certain advantages. And then people will consider and choose,” Mr Ganjar told CNA. 

“But we, from PDI-P … this party has been around for quite a long time and has been taking part in elections not just once or twice, but many times,” he said, appearing unfazed by the lack of support from Mr Widodo. 

“We have been through the dark times of democracy many times. And we have gone through it all,” said Mr Ganjar, confident that they too will survive this current setback.

CAMPAIGNING DUO FROM EAST TO WEST 

PDI-P has existed for 50 years and was one of the only three political parties in Indonesia during the reign of authoritarian president Suharto until he stepped down in 1998. 

In the years before Mr Suharto was forced to step down, triggered by violent nationwide protests, his government tried to minimise the party's force.

The party’s experience is reflected in how Mr Ganjar’s team prepared his campaign trail - ambitious and symbolic.

Mr Ganjar held his first campaign stop in Merauke, not without a reason.

His running mate, vice-presidential candidate Mahfud MD, currently Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, started campaigning from the other end of Indonesia in Sabang, Aceh province. 

Sabang is Indonesia’s westernmost town of the archipelago.  

"We deliberately chose these two points in Indonesia, one at the (eastern) end where the sun rises, the other at the west end because we want to unite Indonesia, like the third principle (of Indonesia’s five-principled ideology),” said Mr Ganjar on day one of campaigning in the remote and underdeveloped district of Semangga, Merauke regency. 

"We chose this village because this is actually where our community gathers … We chose this because of our love for this land," he said, followed by loud cheering and clapping of hundreds of Papuans who attended the event.

During the event, Mr Ganjar launched the programme “one village, one health facility, one health worker” to provide villagers access to healthcare.  

Mr Godefridus Gebze, a resident of Semangga, said he is thankful that a presidential candidate like Mr Ganjar wanted to visit them to see the real conditions on the ground.  

“We have never been visited by a presidential candidate, one who goes to a village like this,” said the 36-year-old, who works odd jobs.

“We need many things, especially roads, and Mr Ganjar has heard this from us. When people want to seek medication, they are hindered by the lack of roads and an ambulance nearby. That’s what we need,” he told CNA.

After visiting Semangga, Mr Ganjar returned to Merauke city to hold dialogues with youths. 

At next year’s election, 204.8 million people are eligible to vote and more than half of them are young people aged between 17 and 42 years old. 

Mr Ganjar also met local Catholic leader Archbishop Mgr Petrus Canisius Mandagi. Unlike most parts of Indonesia which is predominantly Muslim, the country’s Papua region is predominantly Christian. 

When meeting Mr Ganjar, the archbishop expressed his admiration for Mr Ganjar and his vice-presidential candidate Mr Mahfud. 

“I love Mr Ganjar, Mr Mahfud. Even though you have experienced challenges recently, take it easy.

“This election is a moral war ... Who has morals, he wins. Who is humble, he wins. The arrogant ones will be gone. Convey goodness to the community," said the archbishop. 

METALLICA AND MEGAWATI

The archbishop's advice comes amid reports that Mr Ganjar’s billboards in some parts of Indonesia have been destroyed or taken down by people who do not want him to win the election next year. 

CNA has seen billboards of Mr Ganjar which were destroyed, particularly in the face. 

When asked how he felt about it, Mr Ganjar said his team had conveyed this to the election commission and the general election supervisory agency. 

He hopes that civil society will also help monitor the situation. 

“Even though there are indications of fraud (cheating), it may be difficult to monitor everything since Indonesia is so big. So the role of civil society is also important,” he said. 

Mr Ganjar, who is a father of one, may be used to facing bumpy roads. 

Born in Karanganyar, Central Java, Mr Ganjar’s father was a low-rank police officer.

Mr Ganjar told CNA that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps but failed the police entrance exam twice. 

He then studied law at Yogyakarta University of Gadjah Mada and developed a love for being active in organisations.

As a student, he participated in numerous protests, including one to protest the evictions of residents for a local reservoir project. 

However, he told CNA that he realised he needed to be in the system to institute real change. 

Therefore, he joined PDI-P in 1992, which was then just known as PDI. 

In 1996, PDI experienced internal conflicts, which led to the establishment of two factions.

One was headed by politician Soerjadi, backed by the Suharto government, and the other by Mdm Megawati which eventually became PDI-P.

Mr Ganjar stuck with Mdm Megawati and a few years later became a legislator and subsequently Central Java’s governor with her blessings. 

Nevertheless, when Mr Ganjar said in October last year that he was ready to run for the presidency, he was forced to apologise.  

​It was said that Mdm Megawati did not like him jumping the gun as she is the decision-maker at PDI-P.

She was reportedly also still hoping then for her daughter, house speaker Puan Maharani, to be the party’s presidential candidate. 

Yet, Mr Ganjar - who like Jokowi is a Metallica fan - became the party’s sole presidential candidate. 

Despite most polls showing him lagging behind Mr Prabowo, will Mr Ganjar be Indonesia’s second Metallica fan president? 

“God willing, we are optimistic because we have prepared all troops with strength from the political parties and the volunteers,” he told CNA. 

“And remember, there are still many people who have not yet decided, and this is what we are currently working on continuously.”

Read this story in Bahasa Indonesia here.