Indonesia's presidential hopefuls face off in debate

Ganjar Pranowo, presidential candidate of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and Indonesia's Defence Minister and presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, attend a televised debate at the election commission headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 12, 2023. [Photo/Agencies]

Indonesia's campaign season for the February 2024 presidential election kicked off this past week, with the first of five live televised debates held among the three candidates.

The debate focused on law and governance, with all candidates agreeing on the need to stamp out corruption in the country.

The rhetoric drew skepticism, with observers noting that while the pronouncements were fine, the candidates failed to lay out concrete plans to achieve the desired objectives.

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo and former Jakarta governor Anies Rasyid Baswedan faced off in the debate held at the General Election Commission headquarters in the capital Jakarta on Tuesday. The debate was part of the 75-day campaign period that started on Nov 28.

Lucius Karus, researcher at nonprofit Indonesian Parliament Watch, or Formappi, told China Daily that most of what the candidates discussed in the debate had been proposed in the past and nothing has yet been done.

"The words 'corruption' and 'corruption eradication' were repeatedly mentioned in the debate, but the candidates' arguments all tended to be normative," Karus said.

He said if any of the contenders were serious about implementing an anti-corruption drive, they should have presented a concrete policy plan. He noted that while all the candidates agreed that the Corruption Eradication Commission should be strengthened, none of them presented any clear plan on how that can be done.

Corruption is a persistent problem in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. According to Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, Indonesia ranked 110 out of 180 countries surveyed.

The three candidates agreed during the debate that state agencies such as the Corruption Eradication Commission, the attorney general's office and the National Police have to be strengthened in the fight against corruption. They also called for the confiscation of assets of officials involved in corruption cases.

Agus Sunaryanto, coordinator of nonprofit Indonesia Corruption Watch, said he did not see anything new in any of the candidates' response when asked how they would fight corruption.

"Their arguments were mostly too general," Sunaryanto said.

But he commended the candidates' support for the Asset Confiscation Law, which is being deliberated in parliament. Sunaryanto also supports Baswedan's proposal to raise the salaries of government workers to discourage corruption.

The next live debate is scheduled for Jan 7, when the candidates would give their insights on defense, security, geopolitics and international relations.

Over 200 million Indonesians are eligible to cast their votes in the Feb 14 general elections. Apart from choosing the next president and vice-president, voters will also elect members of the People's Consultative Assembly and local legislative bodies.

Contact the writers at prime@chinadailyapac.com.

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