Indonesia Presidential Race Pits Heavy Metal Against The General

(@FahadShabbir)

Indonesia presidential race pits heavy metal against the general

Jakarta, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2019 ) :Indonesia's heavy metal-loving leader Joko Widodo faces off against ex-military general Prabowo Subianto in the race to lead the world's third-biggest democracy Wednesday, a re-run of the 2014 election contest narrowly won by Widodo.

A record 245,000 candidates are running for public office from the presidency down to local legislator positions, including an Olympic gold medallist, a pop diva, a frontman who lost his bandmates and wife in a killer tsunami and even a late dictator's son convicted of masterminding a judge's murder.

Widodo's landmark 2014 victory capped a remarkable rise for the down-to-earth outsider in a political scene dominated by dynasties from the era of Indonesia's late dictator Suharto.

A one-time furniture exporter, the 57-year-old shot to prominence when he was elected governor of the capital Jakarta in 2012 after a successful stint as mayor of his hometown Solo.