The Jakarta Globe, Erwida Maulia, May 20, 2014
 |
Presidential hopefuls Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto have announced
their vice presidential running mates, and both have the backing of religious parties.
(Reuters Photo/Dwi Oblo) |
Jakarta.
Monday’s declaration of two tickets running in July’s presidential election
evokes at least two questions: Do hopefuls Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto
have anything different to offer the Indonesian voters? Secondly, will their
respective running mates boost their chances of clinching the country’s top
position, or will they be the cause of the candidates’ downfall?
Joko and
former Vice President Jusuf Kalla declared their election bid at the historical
Gedung Juang in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Monday morning, ending
speculations as to who Joko would pick as his running mate ahead of the July 9
presidential poll. The declaration came just a day before Tuesday’s
registration deadline at the General Election Commission (KPU).
Kalla, who
is also former chairman of the Golkar Party, had been regarded by many as the
strongest candidate for the job, but other names, such as current Golkar
chairman Aburizal Bakrie and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief
Abraham Samad, also continued to pop up.
Joko told
journalists at the KPU office that he picked Kalla because of the politician’s
popularity among the voters, as well as his political experience and track
record.
“I’ve been
in the bureaucracy [business] for nine years, and I know those [qualities] are
needed,” Joko said. “Integrity, a full understanding of politics and the
economy; these things are also very crucial.”
Neither
Joko nor Kalla spoke about their campaign platform, although Joko said they had
submitted their vision for the country to the KPU during registration.
“When the
time comes, we’ll talk about it. Later, OK?” he said.
This not
deter political analysts from speculating that the pair’s actions during and
after the announcement — when they pedaled their own bikes to reach the nearby
KPU office — was a clear indication of their populist platform.
“We saw the
informal, modest announcement. That gives a populist impression,” Siti Zuhro of
the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said on Monday. “And Joko has
struck people as a populist figure — not too formal and strict with protocols.”
Muhammad
Qodari from political survey institute Indo Barometer agreed, adding that the
populist image has traditionally been attached to the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Joko’s party.
“[Joko-Kalla’s]
vision and mission are probably not very different from [PDI-P’s]
nationalist-populist platform, which can be seen from its history and
rhetoric,” Qodari said.
Prabowo and
his Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) initially built their reputation
on a nationalist-populist image, but that was before the recent political
situation brought three out of four Islamic parties with legislative seats at
the House of Representatives closer to Gerindra.
The three
parties — the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP)
and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) — all have declared their support for
Prabowo and his running mate, PAN chairman Hatta Rajasa.
Prabowo and
Hatta also declared their bid in the upcoming presidential on Monday, just a
few hours after Joko and Kalla’s announcement.
“Their
declaration event looked formal and institutional, with a religious nuance,”
Siti said. “Nationalist-religious [platform] seems to be their starting point.”
Although
PDI-P has the fourth Islamic party in its bloc, the National Awakening Party
(PKB), this hardly gives its coalition an Islamic coloring, with PDI-P’s
dominance and PKB’s small share in the alliance that also consists of the
National Democratic Party (Nasdem) and the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura),
Siti said.
“It’s
different from the Gerindra coalition,” she said. “It [Gerindra’s alliance] has
a strong religious nuance because of the three Islamic-based parties in it.”
Rights
activists recently criticized Prabowo after Gerindra published on its website a
manifesto of the party, which includes its religious stance considered
intolerant toward minority groups.
The
manifesto states: “The state guarantees each citizen’s freedom to adhere to a
religion/belief. But the government/the state is obliged to regulate this
freedom… The state is demanded to guarantee the purity of teachings of
religions acknowledged by the state — from all kinds of blasphemy and
heresies.”
These sentiments
have been seen by many as Prabowo’s attempt to woo its Islamic coalition
partners and voters.
Qodari
doubts, however, that using religious sentiments would as it has never been
successful in the past — including when Kalla and his running mate Wiranto used
it in the 2009 presidential elections.
“JK-Wiranto
in 2009 attempted took that direction,” Qodari said. “But [religiosity] is not
an effective issue.”
Nevertheless,
Siti added, with Islamic parties’ better than expected outcomes in the legislative
elections, religious issues may still have some significance.
“But we
have very heterogeneous voters here in Indonesia,” Siti said. “And the
[political] figures themselves play a very determining factor.”
Aside from
analyst speculations on the candidates’ possible platforms, not much has been
said as to what the two tickets vying for Indonesia’s top leadership posts for
the next five years will offer in their campaigns.
Joko
earlier this month talked about a “mental revolution” in an opinion piece published
by Kompas daily, underlining the need for a change in mentality, particularly
in the education sector.
He also
described the actions he would take in the agricultural sector concerning food
security issues, during a visit to a farming village in Bogor, West Java. Joko
declared his stance against the conversion of agricultural land for residential
or industrial use, saying farmers should be given government support to
increase productivity. This, in turn, would diminish the country’s reliance on
imports by boosting domestic agricultural and fisheries.
But Prabowo
may be a real challenge to Joko when it comes to wooing farmers, Siti said.
Prabowo’s leadership at the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) is a good
indication of his strong grip on Indonesia’s farming communities.
But she
hailed Joko’s call for a “mental revolution,” saying a fundamental change in
our ways of thinking was indeed what Indonesia needed.
“Concrete
changes in mindset, coupled with law enforcement, are crucial to support economic
development,” she said. “Joko gives the impression of wanting to create new
values, a new culture in the government aimed at improving the people’s
welfare.”
On the
other hand, Qodari pointed out, Prabowo may have a more systematic platform
compared to Joko. The 50-page manifesto of what his government would do if he
was elected is a clear indication.
“This is
because Prabowo had a head start in the race for presidency, and as the leader
of Gerindra, he was able to promote himself from the very start,” Qodari said.
“Joko is not a party chairman and became a candidate quite late in the game.”
Joko has led
most popularity surveys whoever he was paired with, although a recent survey by
Indikator Politik Indonesia pointed out the Jakarta governor garnered most
votes with Kalla.
The survey,
announced last week, showed Joko-Kalla securing 51 percent of the vote if they
face off with Prabowo-Hatta, who may get 32 percent. The remaining 17
percent of respondents were undecided.
