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Joko Widodo, popularly known as 鈥淛okowi鈥�, has served as Indonesia鈥檚 president for almost a decade. He is hugely popular, garnering around听. But the constitution bars him from serving a third term in office.

Repeated proposals in recent years years to amend the constitution to allow Jokowi to run again have gained little public or political traction. This leaves him unable to contest the next presidential election in February.

Key powerbrokers, however, have been keen to make the most of the tens of millions of votes that Jokowi commands 鈥� and maintain his inner circle鈥檚 influence after he leaves the palace next year.

Perhaps their most conspicuous strategy to do this has been to install Jokowi鈥檚 son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as vice presidential running mate for Prabowo Subianto, now ahead in the polls with a huge lead of听.

Getting Gibran into that position required the co-option of one of Indonesia鈥檚 most respected judicial institutions 鈥� the Constitutional Court.

The main roadblock for Gibran (and Jokowi) was that the election law imposed a minimum age of 40 for presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

In a听听challenging that age limit, Chief Justice Anwar Usman, Jokowi鈥檚 brother-in-law and Gibran鈥檚 uncle, intervened to ensure a majority of judges would reverse the court鈥檚 position in three previous decisions.

As a result, the election law was altered to permit younger candidates to stand if they had previously held office as head of a sub-national government. Gibran, 36, just happens to have served as mayor of Solo in central Java, a job his father once held, and so the decision meant he could now run for vice president.

The decision has trashed of the reputation of the Constitutional Court, raising questions about its continuing credibility and future, with witty hackers changing its听.

However, not all judges agreed with the decision. Three judges dissented, with some raising questions about Anwar鈥檚 behaviour and his obvious conflict of interest. Public outrage over the decision led to the court鈥檚 ethics tribunal听听him from his position as chief justice last month.

Yet, Anwar remains one of the nine judges on the court, the decision he is accused of 鈥渇ixing鈥� stands, and Gibran鈥檚 nomination as a vice presidential candidate can probably not be reversed.

Worse, the national legislature has been debating amendments to the Constitutional Court statute that could enable the removal of the dissenting judges. Ironically, this might be through the imposition of a minimum age requirement on Constitutional Court judges. One of the court鈥檚 most respected judges, Saldi Isra, is under the proposed age, and appears to be a target.

From the outside, it may seem like Gibran and Prabowo are strange bedfellows. Prabowo is a former son-in-law of the dictatorial former president Soeharto. He is a cashiered former general who has long been accused of听, including alleged killings in East Timor, Papua and even the capital, Jakarta.

Prabowo has never faced trial, although several of his men were tried and convicted. He has denied the allegations against him.

Ironically, he was also Jokowi鈥檚 bitter opponent in the past two elections, which polarised Indonesia. Prabowo鈥檚 refusal to accept his electoral defeats in 2014 and 2019 led to dramatic听.

But the enmity between Jokowi and Prabowo seemed to evaporate almost immediately after the court challenges failed, with Prabowo pragmatically accepting the job of defence minister in Jokowi鈥檚 cabinet.

Now, Jokowi appears to have decided that Prabowo, of all people, offers the best chance to build a dynasty to keep some sort of hold on power. Certainly few see Gibran 鈥� largely silent or inarticulate in public appearances 鈥� as serious leadership material. He is widely assumed to be a proxy for Jokowi.

罢丑颈蝉听听has involved a massive and expensive campaign that many complain has co-opted government agencies and programs to听.

It has also involved reinventing Prabowo, a one-time special forces general, as a听gemoy听, with viral video clips showing him dancing and playing with kittens.

Jokowi鈥檚 alignment with Prabowo (through his son) is all the more surprising given Jokowi was a longtime member of PDI-P (Indonesian Democracy Party 鈥� Struggle). PDI-P is Indonesia鈥檚 largest political party. It twice successfully nominated Jokowi for the presidency, and it has its own candidate, Ganjar Pranowo, in February鈥檚 election. Party rules require Jokowi to support him.

By abandoning Ganjar for Prabowo (who has his own party, Gerindra), Jokowi will effectively be stealing votes from PDI-P and declaring war on its boss, the formidable 鈥� and vengeful 鈥� former president, Megawati Soekarnoputeri, the daughter of Indonesia鈥檚 first president. She will fight hard to maintain her party鈥檚 power and influence.

Despite the political chaos these moves have sparked, Jokowi鈥檚 bet that his loyalists and the general public don鈥檛 really care about constitutional crises or claims of dynasty building seems to be paying off.

Of course, votes could still shift in the next month and a half. However, there is a sense the momentum created by Jokowi鈥檚 support for Prabowo may make his victory inevitable. Some former critics are already quietly changing sides to ensure a share of the spoils.

Jokowi has previously听听鈥渙ur democracy has gone too far鈥�. And Prabowo has openly called for a return to the model of Suharto鈥檚 authoritarian听.

So, a Prabowo-Gibran victory may be good news for the elites now in power, but it will likely be bad news for Indonesian democracy. It will confirm 鈥� and probably accelerate 鈥� the regression that most observers, including听, agree is already advanced under Jokowi.

Many voters seem untroubled by this. Indonesia鈥檚 post-Soeharto听听of democratisation is mere history for Indonesia鈥檚 Gen Z, who appear to have limited interest in all that was achieved two decades ago and no experience of living under authoritarianism.

But the activist legal NGOs that form Indonesia鈥檚 policy 鈥渂rains trust鈥� are depressed and anxious. Certainly, some are protesting, and a few are even challenging the court decision that allowed Gibran to run.

However, many are intimidated by听听with increasing frequency in recent years. From the perspective of civil society, Jokowi鈥檚 strategists seem to have a fix in place and dark and difficult times lie ahead.

This article was writeen by Professor Simon Butt from Sydney Law School and Professor Tim Lindsey听from the University of Melbourne. It was originally published in .

Hero image:听Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Joko Widodo's son, at the Projo event on October 14, 2023 in Jakarta. Credit: Shutterstock.听