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Anies, Ganjar gain edge in third debate over ‘common enemy’ Prabowo
Political analysts appear to generally agree that Anies and Ganjar outdid Prabowo at the third election debate on Sunday, when both adopted an offensive strategy on topics that should have been a walk in the park for the defense minister.
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Presidential candidates (from left, standing) Prabowo Subianto, Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan speak onstage on Jan. 7, 2024 during the third 2024 election debate at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex in Senayan, Jakarta. (AFP/Adek Berry)
Analysts say that presidential front-runner Prabowo Subianto was largely beaten in his own backyard during the third election debate on Sunday, when rival candidates Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo put up a strong showing by going on the offensive.
Sunday’s debate, which marked the second time the three presidential candidates pitted their campaign policies in a live nationwide broadcast, covered international relations, defense and security; all topics close to Prabowo as the incumbent defense minister.
Anies set the tempo early on by immediately attacking Prabowo in his opening speech.
The former Jakarta governor, in a move that mirrored President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s strategy in the 2019 presidential debate, took a swipe at Prabowo’s allegedly owning 340,000 hectares of land across the country, in contrast to the poor welfare of many members of the Indonesian Military (TNI).
Prabowo initially shared some common ground with Ganjar, but the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) candidate piled even more pressure on Prabowo later in the debate, saying that he had become “doubtful” of Prabowo’s capabilities as defense minister over his purchase of secondhand weaponry.
Read also: Prabowo on back foot in heated debate
Prabowo fired back against Anies and Ganjar throughout the debate, claiming that the data the two candidates cited were wrong and saying that he would be happy to show them “accurate data” in a separate meeting at some other time.
