Electoral prospects of Jokowi's son still strong despite gaffes

His enduring popularity is linked to his family, attitude of Indonesians towards polls: Experts

- Hariz Baharudin

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo's son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is running for vice-president in Indonesia's 2024 polls, has found himself in hot water yet again - this time over an alleged campaign violation involving distributing milk to children.

But despite a series of slip-ups surrounding the 36-year-old candidate, including inaccurate comments on pregnant women and reported misbehaviour during official debates, analysts say his electoral prospects are not significantly dented.

On Jan 3, Mr Gibran, who is mayor of Solo, was questioned by the Central Jakarta branch of the Elections Supervisory Agency for handing out milk at a public car-free day event in the capital city on Dec 3.

A 2016 Jakarta gubernatorial order bars "events for the E interests of political parties" during car-free days, when vehicles are banned from major thoroughfares as part of an environmental push. The archipelago's laws also ban election participants from involving children in their campaigns.

Local media reported that at a one-hour questioning, Mr Gibran stuck to his stance that giving out milk to children did not constitute campaigning. He also repeated how he was not in possession of any campaign materials at the event, and did not ask the people he encountered to vote for him.

The questioning follows his apology on Dec 4 for mistakenly saying pregnant women required sulphuric acid, rather than folicacid, to prevent stunted growth in their children. He made the comments during a discussion with his running mate, presidential candidate and Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, when he was clarifying details on his milk distribution programme.