As a former general and the head of the Gerindra Party, Prabowo Subianto has long been an intimidating political powerhouse, but the sheer amount of jokes being made on social media about the candidate’s unsubstantiated claims to victory in last Wednesday’s vote would seem to show that few are afraid to poke fun at Prabowo’s expense (despite at least one person being reported to the police for calling the candidate “crazy”).
The most popular memes to come out of the post-election drama thus far have been those featuring a forlorn-looking Sandiaga Uno, running mate to Prabowo, meekly standing next to his candidate as Prabowo declared victory for a second time on Thursday night (as you may recall, Sandiaga was notably absent when Prabowo declared victory the first time on Wednesday night, which campaign officials later explained was due to him having the hiccups).
Sandiaga Uno finally appeared with Prabowo Subianto as he declared victory in the presidential election despite quick count results pointing to a comfortable #Jokowi win. As his expressions suggest though, Sandi didn't seem too enthused about the whole thing. #pilpres2019 pic.twitter.com/KHk1QzdAlQ
— The Jakarta Globe (@thejakartaglobe) April 18, 2019
That moment has basically become Indonesia’s answer to the sad Ben Affleck meme, featuring Sad Sandiaga:
This is stolen
This is SAnDiaga uno
F pic.twitter.com/rU5APVYUpy— Pawew 🇵🇸 (@mfarreldava) April 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/__skitzo/status/1119266387174645760
In this video, Sad Sandiaga longs for the simpler times before he became Prabowo’s running mate, when he was vice governor to Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBZqDRhBiEg
Besides that extremely awkward declaration of victory, another moment that has been ruthlessly mocked online was when Prabowo invited military veterans to his home after the election, during which every single one of them saluted Prabowo and exclaimed “Siap pak presiden!” (Yes, Mr. President) before shaking and/or kissing his hand.
In no time, the video became a meme, with numerous video parodies being posted online, as compiled in the video below, one of which features a dog as the titular “president”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYHvlaoWdnY
Prabowo’s general stubbornness at conceding defeat (not just in this election — he also refused to accept defeat in 2014) has also become fodder for meme makers in Indonesia.
#PrabowoGila yg di tunggu² ini meme😅 pengen ketawa tapi takut doa @jokowi tetap presiden indonesia salam sejahtera😇😇 pic.twitter.com/7yv2l0a3xO
— Maya (@Maya82211594) April 18, 2019
A list of Indonesian presidents and the number of terms they served. Under Prabowo it’s written “Lain kali”, meaning “another time”.
#JokoWinElection harus naekin lagi meme ini lagi kah?? pic.twitter.com/sdgHLPYmO5
— chaosnight (@ChaosnightTjm) April 17, 2019
A play on for the Javanese word “legowo”, which means to accept, in this case becoming a portmanteau for “Let it go (Prabo)wo”.
Prabowo is not the only one seemingly unable to accept his projected defeat. Compilation videos of Prabowo supporters in extreme denial have also gone viral since the election.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfMkz9zQrs4
Well, we’ll know for sure who won the election when the General Election Commission (KPU) announces their official tally on or before May 22. Until then, we hope that memes like these are taken for what they are worth — pictures and videos that are posted for shits and giggles — and that they won’t escalate tensions in what has been a largely peaceful election.
