The Prabowo-Gibran Duet In The 2024 Presidential Election Is Considered Not Easy To Accept By The Public

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto was accompanied by Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka while attending the National Veterans Day (Harvetnas) commemoration event, Thursday (10/8/2023). (ANTARA)

Political analyst who is also a lecturer in Political Communications and Critical Theory at the Faculty of Political Sciences, Universitas Catholic Widya Mandira (Unwira) Kupang, Mikhael Raja Muda Bataona, said the duet of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the 2024 presidential election was not easily accepted by the public.

"This duet will only be a small political surprise because the effect is not strong enough to ensure Prabowo's victory. Prabowo still needs very hard work to win because this duet is not easily accepted by the public," said Mikhasa Raja Muda Bataona, quoted by ANTARA, Friday, October 13.

Bataona stated that this view was related to the strengthening of support for Gibran Rakabuming to accompany Prabowo and the chance to win the fight in the 2024 presidential election.

According to him, the Prabowo and Gibran duo could have occurred if the Constitutional Court granted the judicial review of the minimum age limit for presidential/vice presidential candidates.

"That's normal because Prabowo calculates Jokowi's support, but this duet will not be a big surprise in politics. Gibran's variables cannot immediately become a game changer for the 2024 presidential election," he said.

Bataona, who is also an Investigative News and Conflict Journalism at the Unwira FISIP, said that the couple would face public rationality.

"Why? Because current voters are more rational than previous elections," he said.

With massive discurus in public spaces that have turned very many traditional voters into rational voters, according to him, discourse about the political dangers of dynasticism, political ethics, and morality as non-negotiable in politics has become quite widely understood by the public today.

"So, public rejection will be real. This resistance will be strong, which will actually harm Prabowo," he said.

He continued, "Not to mention the issue of betrayal of the PDI-P which actually made the public sympathetic to Ganjar as a presidential candidate for the party," he said.

According to him, Prabowo's choice is complicated so that if it is observed, Prabowo still needs very hard work to win with or without Gibran. The reason is, in real politics, Prabowo's real opponent is Anis Baswedan because Anies and Prabowo's voters are in the same niche.

"This type of voter together must be maintained. Prabowo must first win in this voter circle, then he can win against Ganjar," he said.

This means that Prabowo's victory will be determined by Anies variables, not Gibran variables. With only one round not yet certain, this presidential election could be two rounds. Prabowo has to face Ganjar, so these Anies variables and his supporters need to be calculated by Prabowo.

"It is they who will determine Prabowo's victory. If Prabowo finally advances with Gibran, I actually read that Anies' ultra or orthodox support group could refuse to vote for Prabowo in the second round because for them, Gibran is Jokowi's biological and ideological child.