Pre-election video does not show Indonesian presidential candidate 'suffering from depression'
- Published on March 1, 2024 at 09:27
- 7 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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"Allegedly suffering from serious depression because he lost the 2024 presidential election, Anies Baswedan spoke with a painting of Bung Hatta and talked about how he was not doing well," reads Indonesian-language sticker text on a clip posted to SnackVideo on February 22, 2024.
The nine-second video has been viewed more than 22,000 times on the short video-sharing platform and includes hashtags such as "2024 presidential election", "Anies Baswedan" and "depression".
Anies can be seen in the clip standing in front of a portrait of the late Mohammad Hatta, Indonesia's first vice president and one of the nation's founding fathers, affectionately knows as Bung Hatta (archived link).
"Bung Hatta, the condition today is not good. The livelihoods of many people which should have been managed using natural resources...," the former Jakarta governor is heard saying.
The post was uploaded more than a week after Anies ran in Indonesia's the three-way presidential race on February 14, 2024.
Although final official results are only expected in late March 2024, preliminary tallies published by the country's election commission show Anies is poised to lose the election.
With nearly 78 percent of the votes counted as of March 1, Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto had a commanding lead over rivals Anies and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo.
The video has been viewed more than 654,000 times after it was shared alongside a similar false claim elsewhere on SnackVideo, as well as YouTube, TikTok and Facebook.
It also appeared on X, previously known as Twitter.
Comments left by social media users indicated they believed the presidential candidate was in a poor mental state.
"After losing the presidential election he turns to be quite unstable," wrote one user on TikTok.
A Facebook user said: "Wow... it looks like he should get ready to be checked at the hospital."
But the video has been shared out of context -- Anies is in fact sharing his reflection on the legacy of Hatta.
Instagram post before election
A combination of image and keyword searches on Google found the original video was uploaded to Anies’ official Instagram account on November 3, 2023, nearly three months before the presidential election took place (archived link).
"An imaginary dialogue with Bung Hatta...," the Indonesian-language caption reads.
Anies can be heard talking about Hatta's legacy and integrity, while also expressing his worries about Indonesia's current political situation.
"Bung Hatta, today [this country] is not doing well. The livelihoods of many people which should be managed using natural resources, are [now] exploited by a few people," he says.
"The integrity that Bung Hatta showed becomes a rare thing that is difficult to be found."
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video from false posts (left) and the original video from Anies' Instagram post (right):
In a separate Instagram post on November 2, 2023, Anies said he saw the painting during his visit to Hatta's childhood home in Bukittinggi, a city in West Sumatra province (archived link).
"Bung Hatta provided an important foundation for Indonesia. [He proposed] equal and fair distribution of the vast economic resources for everyone," wrote Anies in the post's caption.
"The principles he wrote down later became the foundation for drafting our constitution. That's why we have to return to the idea of our republic’s founding fathers, about equality and justice."
Indonesian broadcasters TV One and Metro TV reported about Anies' visit to Bukittinggi on the same day (archived links here and here).
The presidential hopeful can be seen wearing the same outfit in footage of his visit aired by the news outlets.
A spokesperson from Anies' campaign team, Angga Putra Fidrian, told AFP the claim was "not true" and said the video was taken before election day.
"He's not suffering from depression as mentioned in the circulated video," Angga said, adding that the monologue was a reflection on Hatta's struggle for the country's independence and to emulate the founder's ideas about equality and justice.
AFP has debunked other false and misleading claims about Indonesia's 2024 elections here.
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