Indonesia's vice presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka on Wednesday (Jan. 3) fulfilled a summon from the country's election watchdog over an alleged campaign violation, The Jakarta Post reported.

Alleged campaign violation

The eldest son of current president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was recently under fire for handing out free milk to children during a "car-free day" event in December, prompting a probe from the Central Jakarta's General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu).

A 2016 Jakarta gubernatorial regulation bars political activities and campaigns during "car-free day".

"We need to have clarification from Gibran, we want to make sure whether it (the allegation) is right or not," said Bawaslu official Dimas Trianto Putro, as quoted by Reuters.

Fulfilled summon

Gibran on Jan. 3 fulfilled the summon from Bawaslu, after previously denying that giving out milk to children was a form of campaigning, saying that he was not carrying or displaying any campaign materials and did not ask anyone he interacted with to vote for him.

He maintained his arguments to reporters after a one-hour questioning with Bawaslu.

Gibran, whose candidacy began with controversy due to a constitutional court ruling removing an age bar that paved the way for him to run in the elections, was initially summoned for questioning by Bawaslu's Central Jakarta branch in December.

The summon was later cancelled with the case on "account of inadequate elements of general elections policy violation", Tempo reported.

New findings

However, Dimas on Jan. 2 revealed that Bawaslu had found new findings related to the case, leading to the summon.

Dimas had then said that Bawaslu could not force Gibran to come to the summons, and would produce a report on the case without including clarification from him if he remained absent from the summon.

According to Reuters, Bawaslu also does not have the authority to penalise Gibran, and it is unclear if any punishment will be meted out to the vice-presidential candidate if he is found guilty of breaching campaign violation.

Stellar performance

Gibran recently proved critics wrong through his stellar performance during the country's second live-televised debate on Dec. 22, Benar News reported.

The televised debate saw Gibran going neck and neck with rival candidates Muhaimin Iskandar, the chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), and Mahfud MD, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs.

Gibran retained his composure and produced thoughtful answers when faced with inquiries from his rivals, both of whom were seasoned politicians, according to Jakarta Globe.

The third live-televised debate will be happening on Jan. 7, 2024.

More than 205 million local and overseas Indonesians voting for their next president on Feb. 14, 2024.

Top image Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images.