ADVERTISEMENT

Jokowi, Prabowo Spar Over Defense Policy as Indonesia Vote Nears

Jokowi, Prabowo Spar Over Defense Policy as Indonesia Vote Nears

(Bloomberg) -- Indonesian presidential candidates clashed over the nation’s low defense budget and foreign policy with the world’s third-largest democracy set to go to polls in less than three weeks.

Prabowo Subianto, who’s challenging incumbent Joko Widodo in a rematch of the 2014 elections, said he would significantly boost defense spending to better prepare the nation’s armed forces against any external threats. Widodo, known as Jokowi, pitched for bolstering the technical capability of the forces, saying future wars would be fought on the strength of technology.

Jokowi, Prabowo Spar Over Defense Policy as Indonesia Vote Nears

The two candidates also differed on their policy approach to state control of sectors such as ports, airports and natural resources at the fourth presidential debate organized by the General Elections Commission in Jakarta on Saturday. Prabowo, as Subianto is popularly known as, trails Jokowi by double digit points in most opinion polls and is seeking to narrow the gap in the final days of the campaigning before the April 17 vote.

While the debate was on defense, security and international relations, both the contestants steered clear of dragging Chinese investment and incarceration of Muslims in Uighur into the debate, even as they discussed Indonesia’s role in bringing pressure on Myanmar in dealing with the exodus of Muslims from Rakhine state.

Chinese Role

Prabowo has criticized Jokowi administration’s attempts to lure Chinese investments and its dependence on Asia’s largest economy for trade. But on Saturday, he refrained from bringing up the issue and focused on the country’s low defense budget to say Indonesia was vulnerable to external threats.

The former general said Indonesia’s defense budget at about 0.8 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product paled in comparison with about 3 percent spent by Singapore.

Jokowi batted for foreign investment in infrastructure projects with Indonesia retaining majority ownership, and cited his government’s success in wresting control of Grasberg copper and gold mine from Freeport-McMoRan Inc.

“Our limited budget makes us invite investments, but when it comes to sovereignty, we will not give even one centimeter,” Jokowi said. “The investments come from companies, not countries.”

Prabowo, who has promised to slash company and individual taxes to accelerate economic growth, reiterated a pledge to halt food imports if he won the elections. He also blamed Jokowi’s mismanagement of the economy for the nation’s mounting debt and a weak currency.

“Indonesia is not that respected abroad, because they know that Indonesia has a mounting debt, weak exchange rate, and we even import food,” Prabowo said. “We are an agrarian country that imports food, that’s extraordinary.”

Jokowi is set to win a second five-year term as he enjoys more than 70 percent approval rating, a survey the Centre for Strategic and International Studies showed this week.

To contact the reporters on this story: Arys Aditya in Jakarta at aaditya5@bloomberg.net;Tassia Sipahutar in Jakarta at ssipahutar@bloomberg.net;Viriya Singgih in Jakarta at vsinggih@bloomberg.net;Rieka Rahadiana in Jakarta at rrahadiana@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Thomas Kutty Abraham at tabraham4@bloomberg.net, Tassia Sipahutar

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.