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Can Agus bring female voters to their knees?
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Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf)
W
hen a coalition of four political parties announced Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono as its Jakarta gubernatorial candidate, it set the nation on fire and subsequently reaped the surprise effect it had hoped for.
Until then the media shy Agus, the elder son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, hardly rang a bell in the country’s political jungle. Rarely appearing in public, he is better known as a fast-rising star in the Army, particularly during his father’s presidential tenure.
Now Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party and three of its Islamic-based allies — the United Development Party (PPP), National Awakening Party (PKB) and National Mandate Party (PAN) — have been busy polishing Agus’ image to match the popularity of the incumbent governor, Basuki “Ahok’’ Tjahaja Purnama, who has topped opinion polls.
The public had wrongly expected that the Democrats, which have only five seats in the Jakarta Legislative Council and must join with other parties to meet the 22-seat requirement to nominate a candidate, would have fielded Agus’ younger brother, Edhie Baskoro — better known as Ibas.
Ibas is more visible thanks to his strategic stint as secretary general of the Democratic Party and as a House of Representatives lawmaker who loves to air his opinions on particular issues through press releases rather than face-to-face media interviews.
Since Agus’ raucous candidacy announcement, the Democratic Party and its ally have been busy building and refining his image as a “handsome, tall, intelligent, honest and well-mannered” prospective national leader with military-style discipline.
Historically, physical qualities such as ‘’good looking ’’ and ‘’tall’’ being explicitly offered as a plus factor in a candidate running for public office have undoubtedly been a novelty — well at least in Jakarta where voters are generally more rational. Don’t laugh.
This marketing gimmick may be effective at luring female voters instinctively enamored to such ideal male features as possessed by the 38-year-old Agus, the husband of actress and model Anissa Pohan.
The other day, upon his arrival at the Jakarta election commission office to have his candidacy registered, he was overwhelmed by star-struck female admirers screaming, ‘’Oh my God, mas Agus is so handsome’’, as local media reported.
His “good temper” is obviously being accentuated to present him as an antithesis to the notoriously loudmouth Ahok.
And the trick is also being tried by another candidate, Anies Baswedan, an academic cum politician who has the backing of the Gerindra Party and the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
His decision to quit his illustrious military career, which has given him the rank of major and taken him to pursue studies in Singapore and the US, and try his hand at politics is truly intriguing.
He could have waited until clinching the rank of general, as many officers, including his father, have done before shifting to politics.
One reason, as many would believe, is that his move was made in obedience of his father’s exhortations to sustain a sort of political dynasty, which was started by the senior Yudhoyono’s father in law, the late Lt. Gen. Sarwo Edhi Wibowo, who made his name as an Army commander who played a pivotal role in the communist purge in the 1960s.
Agus’ gubernatorial candidacy may be a high-stakes gamble. Despite his stellar status in the National Military (TNI), he is a novice in practical politics. But, admittedly, given the lack of rationality among the less politically literate voters, a negative prognosis of his prospects in the race may be mistaken.
If he wins, the dynasty may survive for at least another generation. But if he fails, he will go home as a loser and find the door of his military barrack perpetually closed to him.
However, he will most probably still be able to bank on his political recognition, which could easily earn him a leadership job with the Democratic Party. If such a scenario goes well, his next target could be the 2024 presidential race.
By design or sheer coincidence, the upcoming rivalry between Agus and Ahok, will mirror a proxy war between the senior Yudhoyono and Megawati Soekarnoputri, the matriarch of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) who backs Ahok. Yudhoyono was Megawati’s nemesis back in 2004 when she lost her reelection bid in a bitterly contested presidential election. Since then the two politicians have remained irreconcilable foes.
From the outset, the Democrats and their alliance have intended Agus to be a dark horse. In the remaining months into the gubernatorial election, his campaign team will have to jack up his popularity by luring undecided voters, who make up around 30 percent of the capital’s voters as polls have indicated. Jakartans angered by Ahok’s unpopular policies, such as slum evictions and the Jakarta Bay reclamation, may also be easy targets.
Oh, and Agus’ handsome factor — only time will tell how many women whose hearts melt at his smile will eventually give him their votes as well.
—The author is a staff writer with The Jakarta Post.
