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A series of constitutional court decisions last week regarding age requirements for presidential and vice presidential candidates have carved out a loophole seemingly tailor made for President Joko Widodo's eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the mayor of Solo. Anyone seeking the highest or second highest office in the land must be 40 years old, according to a 2017 law. The court last week said the minimum age does not apply to anyone who has been elected to public office. As a result Rakabuming, 36, registered as vice presidential candidate alongside Prabowo Subianto last week. Kevin and Jeff discuss the backlash among civil society.

The chief justice of the court is President Widodo's brother in law his ruling coming just days before the deadline to register explicitly favours his nephew. Kevin argues there is real concern whether Indonesia's two decade long experiment with democracy may have run its course. Seth Soderborg joins Jeff in the second half of the show to argue that Rakabuming's role as VP candidate is to give Widodo sway in the Prabowo campaign as the defence minister and two time former candidate attempts to shed his image as a conservative firebrand and tap into Widodo's base of religious moderates. At this stage, the election appears to be Prabowo's to lose. Only question is will Indonesia's voters play along?

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