High confidence in Prabowo camp

At Mr Prabowo Subianto's campaign headquarters in East Jakarta, an endless stream of people turn up to declare their support, fuelling growing optimism in the presidential candidate's team that he will overtake front runner Joko Widodo by the July 9 election.

Supporters from all over Indonesia take turns on stage under a tent set up in the garden of the historical house to perform dances, offer prayers or simply read out their reasons for backing the former general and his running mate, Mr Hatta Rajasa.

"Rumah Polonia was to be shut by Saturday but we extended till June 25 because we are seeing so many pledges. I am not sure how we will cope beyond that," Ms Diana Widiastuti, 42, who coordinates the declarations of support, said. The house will remain open as the headquarters but pledges will stop by the fasting month.

Every day, Ms Diana records more than 400 pledges from individuals and groups, making Rumah Polonia a key morale-booster for the team. Even as the Prabowo-Hatta team sees a surge in support from opinion polls and on the ground, it is going all out to secure the country's top job.

Latest surveys show the Prabowo-Hatta team fast closing in on its rivals as Mr Prabowo's Gerindra Party and its coalition partners tap grassroots networks in guerilla-like operations.

A campaign team adviser, Mr Eggy Sudjana, said: "For each polling district, three cadres of coalition partner Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) are tasked to canvass for votes during campaigning."

PKS has mobilised 20,000 cadres for a "knock on one million doors" initiative in Yogyakarta to rally support. Local leaders are pitching in. At least 11 governors and seven vice-governors have submitted their leave to campaign for Mr Prabowo, says the Election Commission.

Mr Prabowo and Mr Hatta are campaigning at a whirlwind pace, appearing in as many as three provinces in a single day. While campaigning is most intense in Java which has the largest vote bank, Mr Prabowo has scheduled stops in eastern Indonesia, including Papua, said Dr Mahfud MD, the national campaign chief.

"Papua may have one of the smallest numbers of voters but a visit there is symbolic to show no corner of Indonesia is forgotten," he told The Straits Times.

The Prabowo-Hatta camp has also won over prominent businessmen such as private equity tycoon Sandiaga Uno. "I share Mr Prabowo's vision of people welfare... and that's why I joined his team as an economic adviser," he said.

Despite allegations of past human rights abuse, supporters appear unfazed. One reason is the coordinated rapid-fire rebuttals by his team. Mr Prabowo, a former son-in-law of the late president Suharto, was dismissed from the military for links to the abduction of 13 pro-democracy activists in 1998. He has consistently said he was following orders. But a day after former army chief Wiranto's televised claims last Thursday that Mr Prabowo acted on his own initiative, his camp filed a complaint with the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu), arguing the matter has been settled in court.

Similarly, the team denounced as slander claims by former intelligence chief Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, once Mr Prabowo's commanding officer, that their man is a "psychopath". Both Mr Wiranto and Mr Hendropriyono are in Mr Joko's camp.

"Those are just dirty tactics by rivals. It can only take a military man like Mr Prabowo to rule Indonesia, not a civilian," said vendor Caroline Ginting, selling Prabowo-Hatta campaign badges and stickers outside Rumah Polonia.

While analysts see the race as too close to call, the team's hard work and fervour lead some to believe it will go Mr Prabowo's way. Gerindra's vice-chairman and Prabowo campaign secretary Fadli Zon claimed that unofficial surveys put Mr Prabowo ahead of Mr Joko. "Read my lips: We will win this election," he said.

This article was first published on June 23, 2014.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.