Students also grilled Mr Anies on poverty and corruption in Indonesia. As he tackled the questions, taking his time to unpack the topics and giving detailed explanations, the candidate appeared to be a natural at dealing with the youth.
After all, he was an academic who later became a university chancellor that saw him spending years interacting with youth, whom he has placed at the heart of his campaigning strategy in contesting the presidential polls next year.
After the session which was held as part of his electoral campaign in December, the former Jakarta governor told CNA that he believes a leader should not be afraid to be criticised and that dialogue is the best way to understand each other, especially the youths.
“I have never viewed those who engage in any critical dialogue as enemies. They are friends, people who also care about Indonesia,” said Mr Anies.
YOUTH A KEY FOCUS
On Valentine’s Day in 2024, over 204 million people will cast their votes for who they want to lead Southeast Asia’s largest economy from among three pairs of candidates.
More than half of them are young people aged between 17 and 42 years old - largely why Mr Anies, 54, has identified youth as a focal area for his campaign and in his presidency if he’s elected.
When he was appointed the chancellor of Islamic-oriented Paramadina University in Jakarta in 2007 at the age of 38, he was the youngest in Indonesia’s history to take such a post.
He then became recognised nationally when he founded an educational movement in 2009 called Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesia Teaches), where young professionals were recruited to be elementary school teachers in rural areas for a duration of one year as a way to give back to society.
Mr Anies said his experience as an academic keeps him grounded with a pulse on the ground, and spurs his desire to institute change in the country - starting with youths he meets on his presidential campaign trail.
"The change we are initiating is a change to bring a sense of justice,” Mr Anies later said when CNA joined him while he had lunch at a local restaurant and took the opportunity to interview him exclusively.
Playing to his image as an intellectual and an Islamic scholar also appeared to be a key part of his campaign strategy, compared to his two other rivals.
Mr Anies, who is in the running to be Indonesia’s eighth president, is paired with vice-presidential nominee Muhaimin Iskandar - the head of the Islamic-leaning National Awakening Party (PKB).
The other two pairings are Mr Prabowo Subianto with his running mate Mr Gibran Rakabuming Raka as well as Mr Ganjar Pranowo along with Mr Mahfud MD.
Mr Prabowo is a retired army general now serving as defence minister, while Mr Gibran is mayor of Solo.
Meanwhile, Mr Ganjar is the former governor of Central Java who is running with Mr Mahfud, currently coordinating minister of political, legal and security affairs.
While in Bengkulu, Mr Anies - who is the first academic to run for the presidency in 20 years after Mr Amien Rais in 2004 - made an impromptu stop at the exile home of the country’s first president, Sukarno, while canvassing for support.
It was the second week of official campaigning for Indonesia’s presidential candidates that began in earnest at the end of November.
Sukarno lived there in Bengkulu for a few years before Indonesia’s independence in 1945.
In a symbolic gesture and possibly an indirect reflection on himself as someone who has overcome various obstacles, Mr Anies - standing on the grounds of Sukarno’s housing complex - paid tribute to the country’s founding fathers.
"This republic was founded by educated individuals. Intellectuals and scholars whose minds were formed not only by reading, but by life experiences. They experienced oppression, they were detained, and they had broad insights.
“While they are the children of the wealthy, they established a Republic for all. Not for their children, not for their nephews, not for their class but for all,” said Mr Anies.
CAMPAIGNING FOR CHANGE ON THE BASIS OF JUSTICE
Fighting for the interests of the masses is a key theme in Mr Anies’ campaign message, like how he has repeatedly stated his opposition to Indonesia’s planned new capital in eastern Kalimantan.
Mr Widodo - commonly known as Jokowi - decided in 2019 that the country’s capital would move from sinking, overly congested, polluted Jakarta to a remote area in the forests of eastern Kalimantan, now named Nusantara.
Jokowi argued that the move was necessary to save Jakarta and ensure that economic development in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy would be more equal as it is currently Java-centred, given where the current capital is.
The move is expected to start next year in five phases, with the development of the capital targeted to be finished by 2045 in time for the archipelago’s centennial.
However, Mr Anies has often pointed out he does not think having a new capital is urgent, unlike the other two presidential candidates Mr Prabowo and Mr Ganjar.
The two have said that they will continue with Mr Widodo’s plans for the new capital.
Mr Prabowo - teaming up with Jokowi’s son Gibran - is the current frontrunner with an electability rating of more than 40 per cent according to various polls.
Mr Ganjar and his running mate Mr Mahfud usually come in second in such polls with Mr Anies and Mr Muhaimin last, although recent surveys show the latter pair have started catching up.
To win, a pair must get over 50 per cent of the votes.
If nobody gets more than 50 per cent, the election will go into a second round in June, while the pair with the fewest votes among the three cannot continue to run.
When questioned by a student during Desak Anies why he believes the new capital is not necessary given that his campaign promise is to create change, Mr Anies voiced his objection based on his views of fairness and equality and said there are more urgent needs that should be attended to across the country.
For example, he cited ensuring teachers get better paid, building more schools as well as the provision of more health clinics across Indonesia.
Besides, Mr Anies argued that the new presidential palace will only be enjoyed by state officials.
So, if Mr Anies were to be elected as Indonesia’s next president, how would he build the US$31 billion new capital if it is not his priority?
Responding to CNA’s question, Mr Anies repeated the same lines he told the student at the Desak Anies session about other urgent needs that warrant immediate attention.
“In my opinion, we need to take care of important and urgent matters first. Only then will we work on important but not urgent things."
He added he would form a team to assess such needs if he is in power.
EAGER TO BURNISH ISLAMIC CREDENTIALS
Mr Anies’ formal and academic manner was also noticeable when meeting about a thousand volunteers at a local auditorium in Bengkulu in the afternoon.
Upon his arrival, a throng of middle-aged women stormed into the hall, wanting to take selfies with Mr Anies or shake his hands.
They hysterically squeezed themselves in, almost stepping on this reporter who was following Mr Anies and was right behind him.
Standing on a podium at the auditorium's centre, Mr Anies said he was glad to be back in Bengkulu.
The grandson of Abdurrahman Baswedan - a national hero of Arab descent who fought for Indonesia’s independence - Mr Anies highlighted his Islamic credentials by saying that he was grateful to return to Bengkulu and to be able to perform ablution with Bengkulu water again.
He repeated the same line a few days later when campaigning in a different town.
“I ask you all, why are we gathered here today?
“Why? Why? What for? What for? What for? For change! Change! Change!” he said to the crowd passionately.
“Remember, we are gathered here today because we want change,” Mr Anies told the audience - many of whom wore attributes from the Islamic coalition parties like the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and PKB, which support him.
"We want justice in Indonesia and a prosperous Indonesia for all."
He added that the people should vote for him because life in Indonesia is now difficult.
Before heading to his next stop, Mr Anies asked his volunteers to pray together, ending it with a scream of “Amin”, which apart from meaning Amen, is actually also an abbreviation for Anies and Muhaimin.
Amin is their campaigning name, catchy to a lot of Indonesians.
Mr Anies’ last stop in Bengkulu in the second week of Indonesia’s 75-day presidential campaign was at a local beach to meet fishermen.
Right when he arrived, it started to drizzle.
Despite the rain, hundreds of fishermen gathered at the beach to see Mr Anies.
They enthusiastically welcomed him and gave him a traditional conical hat made of bamboo to protect him from the pouring rain.
Mr Anies took the opportunity to assert his support for the fishermen by ensuring the availability of affordable diesel fuel for them to go fishing should he be elected as Indonesia’s eighth president.
An ice-cream seller at the beach, Mr Zainal Sapiin, was thrilled to see Mr Anies.
The 55-year-old man said that he would vote for Mr Anies.
“Because to me, what is important is that he is (a) Muslim and (is) pious,” he told CNA.
"Many of our people in Bengkulu like Anies. Congregants at the mosque say Anies is good.”
INTERTWINED HISTORY WITH JOKOWI
A decade ago, Mr Anies was the spokesman for Jokowi when the latter was Jakarta's governor and decided to run as president in the 2014 election.
Jokowi won against Mr Prabowo, who is now vying for the top job for the third time.
After winning, Jokowi appointed Mr Anies as the country’s education minister in October 2014. But Mr Anies’ tenure as minister was short-lived.
Less than two years into the job, he was booted in July 2016 with reasons not made known.
Ever since, rumours have emerged that Mr Anies and Jokowi are on bad terms, even though they have appeared together on numerous occasions.
Mr Anies’ campaign for change is also labelled by many observers as an attempt to showcase a better Indonesia, away from the current one under Jokowi for the past decade and a way to one-up his former boss.
He is also viewed by some as the antithesis of Jokowi.
How does he think about this, CNA asked Mr Anies, who is not a member of any political party. His run for the presidency is endorsed by the National Democratic Party (Nasdem), which is Indonesia’s fourth-largest political party.
Shaking his head while saying no, indicating that he disagreed with the stance, Mr Anies did not directly answer the question but explained in a roundabout way that there are four elements of change, circling it back to his campaign promise.
He said it consists of what must first be improved and thus continued.
The second element in change is what needs to be corrected.
The third is what needs to be stopped, and the fourth is what new things need to be implemented.
Having successfully followed in Jokowi’s footsteps as Jakarta governor, should he also manage to follow Jokowi again and become Indonesia’s president, what kind of president does he want to be?
"One who puts the interests of the country above other interests. Who prioritises the principle of justice in decision-making,” he told CNA.
“One who upholds the principles of good governance so that people believe again in the state and the principles of a democratic state."
But what if he loses, given his electability rating is usually the lowest?
“We are now in the process of carrying out (people’s) mandate. Let’s go through this first until it's finished,” he said.
