Indonesia election: Prabowo Subianto rallies supporters in Joko Widodo’s heartland Solo, claiming he is on ‘holy mission to save the country’

The sun beat down on the city of Solo in Central Java on Wednesday but it did little to prevent thousands of supporters of Prabowo Subianto pouring into Sriwedari Stadium.

The former general is seeking to unseat Indonesian President Joko Widodo at next week’s election. One of his supporters, Titiek Handayani, 34, left home with her two young children early in the morning, travelling by bus from Sragen 30km away.

Solo, a city with a population of about 500,000, is the hometown and stronghold of Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi.

The former furniture entrepreneur launched his political career in Solo, becoming mayor in 2005 and re-elected in 2010 after cultivated a reputation for transparent, efficient public administration. In 2012, he became the governor of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. Then, in 2014, he was propelled to the highest office in the country, beating Prabowo in the presidential election with 53 per cent of votes. His vote share in Solo was 84 per cent and on Tuesday he urged voters to return him and his running mate, cleric Ma’ruf Amin, with an even stronger mandate.