Age no barrier as Indonesia gears up for February 2024 elections

Legal challenges on lower and upper age limits have failed and analysts say fitness for office is about more than a number. Medan, Indonesia – Over the past two weeks, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has been pondering the often globally debated topic of age and whether it matters for political office. While Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has ruled neither man is too young nor too old to run for office, the cases have highlighted long-running debates over age and what it means for an individual’s capacity for political leadership. The other presidential and vice-presidential pairings contesting the election are the former governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo, who is 54, and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs of Indonesia, Mahfud MD, who is 66, as well as the former mayor of Jakarta, 54-year-old Anies Baswedan and 57-year old Muhaimin Iskandar, the deputy speaker of the People’s Representative Council. “The combination of young and senior leadership or vice versa could be a point of compromise in order to find the best approach to accommodate various interests in society or among the political elite.” Mancur Sinaga, a lawyer based in Medan and a lecturer on legal ethics and philosophy, told Al Jazeera that the debate should be rooted in research if voters were truly concerned about age.