Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.
— Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President
This year is touted as the year where nations with the largest democracies will go to the polls and elect a new government.
No doubt, it is the election year with at least 64 countries participating including the European Union, representing just under a half of the world population (49 per cent).
On Wednesday, neighbour Indonesia went to the polls with a three-cornered presidential contest.
The race was between 72-year-old defence minister Prabowo Subianto, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, 54, and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, 55.
Prabowo, who was on his third presidential bid won the election after unofficial results indicated that he managed to obtain past the simple majority mark of 50 per cent to avoid a run-off vote.
It appears that the third time was the charm as Prabowo previously contested against outgoing president Joko Widodo or Jokowi for short, the latter went on to be widely popular, garnering 80 per cent approval rating.
Many were of the opinion that Prabowo won because of the Jokowi factor, the foe-turned-friend president invited the former army general into his cabinet last term.
While Jokowi’s endorsement was never publicly declared, the fact that Prabowo took 36-year-old Gibran Rakabuming Raka — Jokowi’s son — as running mate is indicative of Prabowo’s campaign positioning him as Jokowi’s legacy candidate.
The media was on point when describing it as an Obama-style campaign where Jokowi — similar to former United States president Barack Obama barred from running for a third-term — is seeking to maintain his influence in government.
Jokowi’s stand as a non-running president in the campaign was criticised as traditions would dictate that outgoing president remains neutral as what former Indonesia president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did prior to leaving office in 2014.
Then we go to the question of age, Prabowo is now 72. He is the oldest candidate in the election and older than his former rival Jokowi by 10 years.
He is also only two years younger than Jokowi’s predecessor Yudhoyono, president from 2004 to 2014 who is now 74.
When he takes office, he will be the oldest president, beating the previous record set by Indonesia’s third president BJ Habibie by at least 11 years.
It is a question that must be asked, of course with the world population now benefiting from improved longevity due to improvements in medical science and healthier living, why the people are turning to senior leaders?
If Prabowo runs for a second-term, he will be 82 at the end of his tenure. He will be six years older than Indonesia’s second president Suharto after the latter’s 30-year-reign from 1968 to 1998.
This is not an isolated incident, in the west, the United States is having its own presidential election where sitting president Joe Biden is challenged by former president Donald Trump. They are 81 and 77 respectively.
Trump won the 2016 presidential election and was the oldest president to take office at 70 surpassing the previous record set by fellow Republican president Ronald Reagan at 69.
Biden, following the 2020 presidential election, surpassed Trump’s record becoming the oldest president to take office at 78. He is currently the oldest sitting president.
Both are looking for a second term in office, where once completed, Trump would be 82 in 2024 and Biden, 86. Definitely, the current presidential election is not the most exciting of times for the voters in United States.
The campaign is fast shaping to be who the sharper between two old men are and who has better mental acuity and memory — all the attributes that should be a bare minimum for any candidates vying for public office, let alone to be US president.
Definitely, in an era of new global leadership where the economy is transitioning towards digitalisation and sustainability, more is expected from leaders than simply being lucid — as in the case for Trump and Biden, both prone to public gaffes.
Biden was supposed to be the transitional president — when he completes his single term, another younger candidate from his party will take the baton and run with it, but that did not happen and he is in danger of losing the election.
Similar question must be asked of Prabowo, will he be a transitional president and let his vice-president Gibran, who is half his age, take the mantle for the next term?
In the same vein, Malaysia is having its own ageing leadership problems. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is 76. One of his deputies, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is 71.
The next general election must be held by 2028 and if Anwar runs for a second term, he will be 81. Ahmad Zahid is 76.
But of course, the argument will be that Malaysia has done this before and elected a much older prime minister in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2018 at the age of 92. That should be the exception rather than the norm.
The concern is that the big names that are bandied about for the prime minister’s post is around the same age as Anwar.
Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman and former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is also 76 while jailed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is 71 this year.
Other names within Umno and PN who were at one time touted as prime minister candidates such as Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Datuk Seri Azmin Ali is 62 and 59 respectively, but they never got their break.
Next generation leaders such as former Umno man Khairy Jamaluddin who is now in political wilderness and PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli are looking for the same thing. Both are now closer to their fifties rather than their thirties a decade ago.
The question that must be asked is when will these next generation leaders get their time in the limelight?
I like to think that political parties have somehow embraced the importance of having youth participation in the democratic process, but somehow there is a glass ceiling where there are arbitrary limits imposed for a certain age.
Because of this, many who were groomed for the top position had seemingly lost their way — either ending in the political cold storage or taking an indefinite break from politics altogether.
Some course-correction is needed for the future. While we prepare for an ageing population, new ideas and visions are needed for a political refresh and a panacea to this political jadedness.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
