Indonesia: Presidential candidates hold different approaches on int’l relations
Jakarta (VNA) – There were some major differences on how two Indonesian presidential candidates envisioned the future of Indonesia’s foreign policy, which were conveyed during the fourth face-off between two candidates held in Jakarta on March 30.
Commissioner of
Indonesia’s General Election Commission (KPU) Wahyu Setiawan said the debate
comprised of five segments, similar to the third one. It covered the topics of
ideology, governance, security issues, and international relations.
In the first
segment, candidates conveyed their visions and missions in the field of
international relations, and then they responded to assigned questions in the
second and third ones and inquire each other in the two remaining parts.
The first
candidate, incumbent Indonesian President Joko Widodo, highlighted Indonesian
capacity in mediating in a number of international conflicts and Indonesia's
soft diplomacy power in several international trade negotiations. He also voiced his
belief in the capability of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) in defending the
country's territorial sovereignty.
Meanwhile, the other candidate Prabowo Subianto said
Indonesia's defence remains weak due to budget constraint, thus it needs to be
enhanced.
Both candidates also offered different approaches to strengthen Indonesian diplomacy.
President Widodo said that Indonesia has large potential as the world's largest Muslim majority country to involve in the peace process in some conflict areas as well as to increase trade values by using economic diplomacy.
Prabowo wanted to increase
Indonesia's military equipment for preventive defense mechanism, in which he
noted that neighboring countries, like Singapore is more advanced.
In addition to
the debates, the KPU allows the candidates to launch their campaigns from March
24 to April 13.
Indonesia will
organise legislative and presidential elections simultaneously on April 17 across
the country.
Of its total population of 260 million, over 192
million people in Indonesia have been registered as eligible voters.–VNA