Yerica Lai (The Jakarta Post)
PREMIUM
Jakarta ●
Tue, May 10, 2022
A number of aspiring candidates for the 2024 presidential elections took advantage of the Idul Fitri holiday to “test the waters” ahead of the election rush later this year, with analysts saying they made use of the silaturahmi (communal bonds) tradition of visiting friends and family during Lebaran to explore political alliances and size up the competition.
These so-called “political safaris” were unleashed as millions of Indonesians traveled back to their hometowns over the Islamic holiday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020. The government had in previous years restricted the annual mudik (exodus) phenomenon for fear of uncontrollable viral transmission.
Some of the most popular potential candidates for the presidency based on recent opinion polls made trips to regions that political observers consider to be important for their showing in the upcoming elections, while others further down the pecking order started to make their own political moves.
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