JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s Constitutional Court on Monday upheld the minimum eligible age requirement for presidential and vice presidential candidates at 40, shutting down the possibility for President Joko Widodo’s eldest son to run for vice president next year.
The ruling comes amid growing criticism of what sources say are the outgoing president’s efforts to build a political dynasty and retain influence after leaving office.
The world’s third-biggest democracy is set to vote in simultaneous presidential and legislative elections on February 14 next year.
Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto is neck-and-neck in opinion polls with Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, while ex-Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan is a distant third.
Chief Justice Anwar Usman, who is President Jokowi’s brother-in-law and leads a panel of nine judges, rejected the petition to lower the minimum age to 35 from 40.
The judges said determining the age limit was up to lawmakers and that the petition had no “reasoning according to law”.
If granted, the petition would have allowed President Jokowi’s son and mayor of Surakarta city, Gibran Rakabuming Raka to contest the February election, most likely as Prabowo’s running mate.
Gibran did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto and Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)
