(From left) Indonesia's Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan. PHOTOS: AFP, ANIES BASWEDAN/FACEBOOK
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s three leading presidential hopefuls on Thursday made elevator pitches on why they should become the country’s next leader, as competition intensified ahead of the 2024 general election.
Standing before regional leaders from across Indonesia, they dished out promises ranging from fighting corruption and pushing the nation higher up the industrial value chain, to more equitable urban development across Indonesia.
It was the first time the three candidates – Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan – made an appearance on the same stage.
They had been invited to make a presentation at a forum in Makassar, South Sulawesi, held during the annual working meeting of the association of Indonesian regents and city mayors.
They are each backed by a separate coalition of political parties that will officially nominate them, as well as their prospective running mates, to the national election commission between Oct 19 and Nov 15.
Party elites are currently scouting for vice-presidential candidates to pair with their chosen presidential candidate.
Electability and popularity surveys, at least in the past year, have indicated Indonesia will most likely have a three-way presidential election on Feb 14, 2024, because other presidential hopefuls have consistently scored far below these top three leaders.
In his speech, Mr Ganjar, 54, stressed the need for a transparent and accountable government, pledging crackdowns against the illegal collection of fees in the education sector, and promoting a green economy and blue economy to achieve sustainable development. Noting that China “made a big leap” because the government invested substantially in education, he said it was a “serious problem” that many state schools still collect fees.
Cracking jokes and sharing light moments throughout an engaging presentation, Mr Ganjar highlighted his full support for incumbent President Joko Widodo’s legacy project of moving the nation’s administrative capital to East Kalimantan. Both men are from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.
Mr Gajar stressed that people should not see this as a project centred on an endeavour to make a “physical move”, but instead as a “mindset shift”.
“(Nusantara) will lead us to change our behaviour to be more compliant to the principles of a green economy and blue economy,” Mr Ganjar said, noting that the planned administrative capital will be fully built using environmentally friendly concepts.
Mr Widodo’s ambitious plan has sparked mixed reactions, with critics opposed to the undertaking citing its enormous costs, a weak financing commitment from the government, and bad timing.
Jakarta is only funding a fifth of Nusantara’s development costs, with the balance expected to come from the private sector. No binding commitments have been received from the private sector, and critics further say the funds could be better spent on projects more relevant to post-pandemic economic recovery efforts.
Former university rector Anies took the stage with poise, as he highlighted Indonesia’s lack of focus on city development, saying national administrations have always been too preoccupied with village development.
Pointing to a slide of a night earth map of Indonesia that showed the concentration of illuminated areas – indicative of cities, towns and other human settlements – in Java, he said the unlit areas across the country indicated the vast areas lagging behind in development.
With 70 per cent of Indonesians expected to live in cities by 2045, compared with 57 per cent today, collective planning involving city mayors nationwide to enhance urban development is needed, said Dr Anies, who is the nominee of Koalisi Perubahan untuk Persatuan, the only opposition coalition in Indonesia in the presidential race.
“We don’t have, at a national government level, any agency tasked with managing and overseeing city affairs nationwide. We have one for villages,” Dr Anies said.
“That is why we don’t have any mandatory service standard in place for cities in terms of quality of water supply and other household needs such as gas supply, garbage disposal system, as well as education and health,” he added.
Asked by the audience if he would support the Nusantara project, Dr Anies said he has doubts about its merits.
“Anything that is planned well and has good rationale will take off, and it does not need political muscle... But I sometimes wonder why people keep questioning the (Nusantara) project. Are people subconsciously thinking this project actually has problems?”
Retired army general Prabowo’s presentation was marked by patriotic rhetoric about how Indonesia is endowed with rich natural resources that have caught foreign nations’ attention.
Indonesians must stay united to ensure the nation would reap the optimal benefit from its natural resources, said the Gerindra Party’s nominee.
He stressed that Indonesia has adopted a down-streaming policy, banning the export of nickel ore and bauxite so that they can be processed domestically, thus creating more added value and jobs for engineers, plant managers and labourers. Nickel is an essential element for electric vehicle batteries, while bauxite is used to make aluminium.
“The European Union felt threatened (by this policy), and said the ban breached the World Trade Organisation rule and filed a petition. We lost the case, but we are appealing the ruling,” Mr Prabowo said.
“Why can’t Indonesia have prosperity? Why do we have to sell cheap raw minerals to them?” he asked. - The Straits Times/ANN
