Old photo of Indonesia official falsely shared as 'support for presidential candidate Anies in 2024'

"Even Sri Mulyani invited you to vote: ONE!" says an Indonesian-language post on social media platform X on February 14, 2024, the day of the elections in the world's third-largest democracy.

It features a photo of the finance minister raising her index finger visibly marked with election ink.

The photo is overlaid with text that says the gesture is "code for number 1" -- a reference to the number in the ballot assigned for former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan (archived link). It erroneously adds Sri Mulyani voted in the United States.

The post has been reshared more than 2,800 times.

Image

Screenshot of the false post, taken on February 14, 2024

The final result of the presidential race is not expected until late March, but official tallies with more than 74 percent of the votes counted as of February 22 showed Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto on course to win.

The election commission's website showed the ex-general had a commanding 58.91 percent of votes, more than double his nearest rival and enough for a first-round majority.

Former Jakarta governor Anies received 24.08 percent and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo had 17.01 percent.

Sri Mulyani's photo was also shared with a similar false claim elsewhere on X, on Facebook here and here, on TikTok here and here, and on SnackVideo here.

The claim it shows her endorsing Anies in 2024, however, is false.

Misrepresented picture

Reverse image searches on Google found the photo was published by Indonesian outlet Detikcom on April 17, 2019. The headline of the report reads: "Sri Mulyani Shows Off Her Ink-Stained Index Finger After Voting" (archived link).

According to report, the photo was taken after the finance minister cast her vote during the 2019 presidential and legislative elections at Bintaro district in South Tangerang city in Indonesia's Banten province.

The article adds the finance minister, shown wearing a white blouse, refused to disclose which presidential candidate she voted for at the time.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the photo in the false posts (left) and the original photo from Detikcom (right):

Image

Comparison between the photo in the false posts (left) and the original photo from Detikcom (right)

Photos of Sri Mulyani -- taken from different angles but similarly showing her raising her index finger -- were also published by other Indonesian media in 2019 such as here and here (archived links here and here).

2024 election

Moreover, a search on Sri Mulyani's Instagram account found she posted photos showing her voting on February 14, 2024, where she is seen wearing a different black-colour blouse (archived link).

In one of the recent photos the voting ink was also on her little finger, not her index finger as in the old photo falsely shared online (archived link).

Below is a screenshot of a photo uploaded on her Instagram account:

Image

Screenshot of a photo uploaded on Sri Mulyani's Instagram account

AFP did not find any credible report Sri Mulyani had publicly endorsed a presidential candidate in the 2024 election.

In a video posted by local media Kumparan on YouTube, she told reporters she takes care not to be seen as endorsing any candidate (archived link).

Raising her entire palm to show the voting ink on her little finger, she is heard saying: "If only the little finger, it would be interpreted as a number ... It will spread without context."

Local media Liputan 6 also reported her remarks after casting her vote in 2024 (archived link).

The finance minister cast her vote at a polling station in Bintaro, according to both her Instagram post and the Liputan 6 report.

AFP previously debunked misinformation related to Indonesia's 2024 elections here.