Indonesia election authorities adjust minimum age rule for governor candidates, Jokowi's son now eligible

Indonesia's General Election Commission has set the minimum age requirement for governor candidates at 30 years old by the inauguration date of the election winners.

The minimum age requirement for regent and mayor candidates is set at 25, Indonesian media Antara News reported.

This means regional head candidates can register and run for the top job even though they have not yet reached the minimum age requirement at the time of nomination.

However, the prospective elected regional head's age must meet the stipulated minimum age at the time of the inauguration.

Gubernatorial election in November

Under the previous regulation, the minimum age requirement to contest for regional head positions was also 30, but it was based on the time of nomination.

This amendment means that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's youngest son, Kaesang Pangarep, can contest in the gubernatorial election set in November this year.

Kaesang, born on Dec. 25, 1994, will meet the stipulated minimum age by the time elected governors in various provinces are inaugurated on Jan. 1, 2025.

He studied in Singapore at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and Jokowi attended his son's graduation ceremony in 2019.

Expected to contest in Central Java or Jakarta

Kaesang is expected to contest for governor in Central Java or Jakarta, according to the Jakarta Globe.

Kaesang, who is currently leading in the Central Java gubernatorial survey, would not have been eligible to contest for the regional head position under the previous regulation as he would still be 29 when KPU is scheduled to announce their nominations for eligible candidates on Sep. 22, 2024.

Should he contest the gubernatorial election for Jakarta, he might compete against former Indonesia presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, who has been hinting at the possibility of his participation as a candidate in the November election.

Anies previously contested against Kaesang's older brother, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, during the presidential election.

Top image via @Kaesang/YouTube