Midway into the official campaign period for the country's 2024 presidential election, the candidates and their supporters have been trading increasingly sharp barbs and allegations as they seek an edge in the Feb. 14 vote.

The third electoral debate on Sunday saw Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo press front-runner Prabowo Subianto intently on his record as defense minister.

Prabowo, at a gathering of supporters in Riau province on Tuesday, fired back at a claim Anies made during the debate regarding his alleged ownership of 340,000 hectares of land. Prabowo said Anies had failed to understand that he simply had cultivation rights (HGU) over the land, rights the former general claimed to have returned to the state.

“There was someone who talked about my land ownership. Is he smart or an idiot?” Prabowo said, as quoted by tempo.co.

Meanwhile, a group called Pendekar Hukum Pemilu Bersih (Fighters for a Clean Election) recently filed a report with the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) accusing Anies of launching “personal attacks” against Prabowo.

Prabowo’s comments at the rally were at least his second dig at Anies at an internal party event.

Read also: Prabowo, Anies decline to shake hands after presidential debate

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