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K-stans, beware: Politicians are lurking ahead of elections
Presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo and his campaigner, Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, have found themselves in hot water after they suggested holding a K-pop concert in Central Java ahead of next year’s general election, in an apparent attempt to entice young voters.
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Fans make finger hearts while enjoying a K-pop concert. (Shutterstock/Boontoom Sae-Kor)
Presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo and his campaigner, Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, have found themselves in hot water after they suggested holding a K-pop concert in Central Java ahead of next year’s general election, in an apparent attempt to entice young voters.
Ganjar, who was named the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) presidential candidate in April, said recently that Gibran, who is the eldest son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, was considering inviting K-pop artists to Surakarta.
“[Gibran] has no idea who to invite. Any suggestions?” Ganjar, the Central Java governor, said in a Tweet on July 21 that has since been viewed by 5.3 million Twitter users.
A similar message was also published on Ganjar's Instagram page.
While some K-Pop fans went on to suggest names of artists, others were not as receptive to the idea and accused Ganjar of looking to leverage K-pop’s popularity in the country for his own electoral gains.
Other Twitter users pointed to the similarity between Ganjar’s alleged efforts in trying to appeal to K-pop fans and Jokowi’s association with heavy metal music during the 2014 presidential election.
Jokowi is known as a heavy metal fan, something that helped build his image as a man of the people in the lead up to the 2014 election.
