Prabowo Prevaricates (with Michael Smith of the AFR)

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Gerindra Chair Prabowo Subianto is showing ‘buyer’s remorse’.  By all accounts the three time presidential hopeful is casting about for a running mate who can add vigor to his so far lackluster campaign.  Polls show Prabowo – with near 100 percent name recognition – backsliding while Central Java Gov Ganjar Pranowo clearly leads in multiple credible surveys. National Awakening Party (PKB) Chair Muhaimin Iskandar is expecting the VP nomination but Prabowo is dragging his feet on setting up the inter-party secretariat that will help the coalition plan the 2024 presidential campaign.  PKB is the unofficial political vehicle for Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) – the world’s biggest Islamic organization. 

Alienating Iskandar puts at risk his sway with a vast constituency of moderate Muslim voters.  Also on the pod: the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is finally in the news, largely due a government‑sanctioned Congress of Women Islamic Leaders.  And Michael Smith, Northeast Asia correspondent for the Australian Financial Review joins to discuss the escalating protests against China’s Covid restrictions, the outlook for President Xi Jinping and a deteriorating investment case for an economy many considered the factory for the world.