Old campaign event clip misleadingly shared as 'Indonesian president-elect choosing cabinet'

Published on October 2, 2024 at 10:52
3 min read
By Felix NATHANIEL, AFP Indonesia

An old video of Indonesia's president-elect Prabowo Subianto has been shared in social media posts that misleadingly claimed it shows him selecting potential members of his cabinet. While the video does show Prabowo introducing individuals he expected to serve as ministers in his administration, it was in fact filmed before the 2019 presidential election that he lost to incumbent Joko Widodo. As of October 2, Prabowo has not made any public remarks about potential ministers in his government.

"Prabowo is preparing to select names for his potential cabinet...Rocky Gerong and Mr Gatot have been selected," reads part of the Indonesian-language text on a TikTok video posted on September 13.

The video, which has been viewed more than 210,000 times, shows Prabowo addressing a large hall of supporters. He calls out the names of several individuals -- including that of political analyst Rocky Gerung and retired military general Gatot Nurmantyo -- who join him on stage.

Rocky has been a critic of both outgoing President Joko Widodo -- popularly known as Jokowi -- as well as of his eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who will serve as Prabowo's vice president (archived link). He expressed his desire to serve as attorney-general in Prabowo's cabinet earlier this year (archived link).

Gatot is a long-time supporter of Prabowo, having backed him in the 2019 presidential election as well (archived link).

Screenshot of the misleading TikTok video, captured on September 30, 2024

The video resurfaced after Prabowo's Gerindra party clarified that a list of potential ministers circulating among the media is not official (archived link).

Similar videos were shared elsewhere on TikTok here, here and here where they were viewed more than six million times.

Comments on the posts suggest some users believed the clips show Prabowo naming potential ministers of his government.

"It's great that Rocky is joining Prabowo's cabinet," wrote one user.

Another stated: "This is really good. I hope Mr Prabowo can improve Indonesia so that the people can prosper like in the Suharto era. Thank you."

But as of October 2, Prabowo has not made any public statement about the potential composition of his cabinet.

According to a video report by Kompas.com, Prabowo and Gibran are expected to finalise their cabinet by October 15, days before their inauguration on October 20 (archived link).

2019 presidential campaign

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the misleadingly shared video led to a clip published on the verified YouTube channel of CNN Indonesia on April 13, 2019 (archived link).

The clip is titled, "Prabowo Introduces 'Ministerial Candidates', Who are They?"

The portion that corresponds to the misleadingly shared video starts at the CNN Indonesia clip's 8:32 mark.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the misleadingly shared video (left) and the clip published by CNN Indonesia (right):

Screenshot comparison between the misleadingly shared video (left) and the clip posted by CNN Indonesia (right)

"Prabowo-Sandi grand campaign", reads the chyron on the CNN Indonesia clip, referring to Sandiaga Uno -- who was Prabowo's running mate in his unsuccessful 2019 presidential campaign (archived link).

The YouTube video's description says it shows a campaign event in East Java on April 12, 2019.

It adds: "Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto introduced people who would assist him in government if he were to win the 2019 election. Names such as former Indonesian military general (Ret.) Gatot Nurmantyo and Rocky Gerung were on the list."

The event was also covered by other local media outlet Detik News on April 12, 2019 (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked misinformation relating to Indonesia's most recent presidential election here, here and here.

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