• Latest
  • Trending
Poll Results Suggest West Java Prefers Jokowi Over Prabowo

Jokowi and Prabowo Set to Duel Over the Economy

August 24, 2018
Putin May Have Triggered an Attempted Coup in Armenia

Putin May Have Triggered an Attempted Coup in Armenia

March 1, 2021
Karma the Hollywood curse

Karma the Hollywood curse

March 1, 2021
Hyatt Hotels responds to calls for boycotts over hosting CPAC

Hyatt Hotels responds to calls for boycotts over hosting CPAC

March 1, 2021
Explosion strikes Israeli ship in Mideast raises tension

Explosion strikes Israeli ship in Mideast raises tension

February 28, 2021
Can Asia help Myanmar find a way out of coup crisis?

Can Asia help Myanmar find a way out of coup crisis?

February 28, 2021
Athens Travel destination post Covid

Athens Travel destination post Covid

February 27, 2021
Enforcing Regulations for Forest Risk Commodities

Enforcing Regulations for Forest Risk Commodities

February 27, 2021
Police Scotland offered oil rig to train for protest-plagued North Sea

Police Scotland offered oil rig to train for protest-plagued North Sea

February 27, 2021
Young car enthusiasts spend $7.2 billion a year customizing vehicles

Young car enthusiasts spend $7.2 billion a year customizing vehicles

February 20, 2021
Indonesian billionaire family in the crosshairs of corruption reporting

Indonesian billionaire family in the crosshairs of corruption reporting

February 11, 2021
Greenpeace: A threat to national security?

Greenpeace: A threat to national security?

February 10, 2021
Myanmar’s military takes power detains Suu Kyi

Myanmar’s military takes power detains Suu Kyi

February 2, 2021
citizendaily
  • Asia News
    • Northeast Asia
      • China
      • Japan
    • North Korea
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
    • South Asia
      • Afghanistan
      • Bangladesh
      • India
      • Pakistan
    • Southeast Asia
      • Indonesia
      • Malaysia
      • Philippines
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
  • World News
    • Africa
    • Europe
      • Germany
      • United Kingdom
    • Latin America
      • Cuba
      • Mexico
    • Middle East
      • Gulf States
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Syria
    • North America
      • Canada
      • United States
    • Russian Federation
  • Economy
    • Brexit
    • Free Market
  • Politics
    • ASEAN
    • Diplomacy
    • ISIS
    • National Defence & Security
  • Editorial
  • Environment
    • Climate Change
    • Forests
    • Water & Oceans
    • Wildlife & Endangered Species
  • Lifestyle
    • Books & Literature
    • Entertainment
    • Food & Dining
    • Religion
    • Travel
    • Tech
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
  • Asia News
    • Northeast Asia
      • China
      • Japan
    • North Korea
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
    • South Asia
      • Afghanistan
      • Bangladesh
      • India
      • Pakistan
    • Southeast Asia
      • Indonesia
      • Malaysia
      • Philippines
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
  • World News
    • Africa
    • Europe
      • Germany
      • United Kingdom
    • Latin America
      • Cuba
      • Mexico
    • Middle East
      • Gulf States
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Syria
    • North America
      • Canada
      • United States
    • Russian Federation
  • Economy
    • Brexit
    • Free Market
  • Politics
    • ASEAN
    • Diplomacy
    • ISIS
    • National Defence & Security
  • Editorial
  • Environment
    • Climate Change
    • Forests
    • Water & Oceans
    • Wildlife & Endangered Species
  • Lifestyle
    • Books & Literature
    • Entertainment
    • Food & Dining
    • Religion
    • Travel
    • Tech
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
citizendaily
No Result
View All Result

Jokowi and Prabowo Set to Duel Over the Economy

August 24, 2018
in Economy, Featured, Indonesia, Politics
0
Home Economy
Post Views: 331

 

In recent weeks, Indonesia has been engrossed by both the coalescence of political coalitions and the selection of the vice presidential candidates for incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his opponent Prabowo Subianto. With these matters now largely resolved, analysts are predicting that the economy will dominate the bulk of political debate ahead of next year’s presidential election.

The economy remains one of the Jokowi’s weak points, despite a string of successes on education, health, and infrastructure. While many predicted that religion would re-emerge as a major campaign issue, Jokowi’s appointment of prolific religious figurehead Ma’ruf Amin as his vice presidential candidate should burnish his religious credentials and render his Islamic faith a non-issue.

Prabowo Subianto, however, is ahead of the game: Knowing that Jokowi would likely appoint such a figure, he shaped the debate early by politicizing the country’s economy, with a focus on issues such as Indonesia’s foreign debt, the rising cost of living, and foreign workers.

RelatedPosts

Saudis, UAE hide their role in Indonesian polls by defaming Turkey

Why a unity government won’t work in Indonesia

15 Potential Candidates Who May Run for Indonesian President in 2024

Complex political calculus behind Widodo 2.0

Powerful Ring behind May Jakarta Riots

Specifically, Subianto claimed that Indonesia’s growing foreign debt would see the country bankrupt by 2030. This comes as Indonesia’s foreign debt under Jokowi has grown by 48 percent to $181 billion, due to widespread spending on much-needed infrastructure development.

Subianto has also attempted to highlight Jokowi’s failed promise of 7 percent GDP growth, made during the 2014 presidential election campaign, as he questions Jokowi’s management of the economy. In pushing back against Subianto’s attacks, Jokowi will need to highlight Indonesia’s steadily improving GDP growth, and upgrades to Indonesia’s sovereign ratings in defending Indonesia’s economic health.

Failure to do so may see Subianto benefit from infusing voter economic dissatisfaction with nationalist fervor. The rising cost of living is also expected to feature heavily during the campaign, as Subianto will try to capitalize on the negative sentiment bred by stagnating wage growth now putting pressure on Indonesia’s growing middle class.

Subianto has already flagged this issue repeatedly in recent months, suggesting that protectionist policies were required to resolve the country’s overreliance on food imports that were causing high prices. Jokowi has attempted to counter these attacks by shelving $20 billion worth of infrastructure projects and moving the funds into price controls on fuel, energy, rice, and sugar. Jokowi will be hoping that this action will stymie inflation, deflate Subianto’s attacks, and keep struggling middle class voters onside.

The issue of foreign workers is also set to re-emerge during the campaign, as Subianto tries to link the issue to underemployment, which currently sits at 30 percent. Subianto and those within his camp have already made overtures regarding foreign workers, particularly those from China involved in mining and infrastructure projects throughout the country.

Although foreign workers only make up 0.04 percent of Indonesia’s population, the nationalist and economic undertones of the issue resonates with the electorate, due to lingering xenophobic tendencies towards ethnic Chinese in particular. This puts Jokowi in a difficult situation, as he attempts to boost investment through plugging skills shortages with foreign workers.

Jokowi must tread carefully on this issue, as his recent PP20 policy, created to speed up the processing of foreign worker applications, may become a focal point of this debate. Subianto has already framed this policy as an attempt to favor foreign workers over Indonesian nationals.

To be sure, economic issues are not Subianto’s only opportunity to attack Jokowi. And beyond Subianto himself, his vice presidential candidate, businessman-cum-politician Sandiaga Uno, will also help add credibility to his own economic profile, and reaffirm the position of the economy at the forefront of the political debate.

Sandiaga has already made inroads on this issue by pledging to bring his signature Oke Oce (One Kecamatan, One Centre for Entrepreneurship) initiative to the national level. With the Indonesian electorate now demanding proven track records, adding Sandiaga to the ticket will undoubtedly provide a boost for Subianto, particularly amongst Indonesia’s 70 million young voters.

With Subianto’s campaign promising equal wealth distribution, job creation, and cheaper commodity prices, propagating an effective counterargument will be no easy task for Jokowi. Jokowi will need to clearly communicate his government’s economic successes if he wants to prevent Subianto from galvanizing support for his candidacy.

Marcus Tantau is an Australian postgraduate student at the Australian National University.

TheDiplomat

Tags: Indonesia 2019 Presidential ElectionIndonesia Presidential CampaignIndonesia Presidential CandidatesJokowi VS Prabowo
Previous Post

Indonesia promises an equally spectacular closing for the 18th Asian Games

Next Post

Indonesian Police should resolve conflicts triggered by #ChangePresident movement

Related Posts

Putin May Have Triggered an Attempted Coup in Armenia
Bilateral

Putin May Have Triggered an Attempted Coup in Armenia

March 1, 2021
Hyatt Hotels responds to calls for boycotts over hosting CPAC
Asia News

Hyatt Hotels responds to calls for boycotts over hosting CPAC

March 1, 2021
Explosion strikes Israeli ship in Mideast raises tension
Asia News

Explosion strikes Israeli ship in Mideast raises tension

February 28, 2021
Can Asia help Myanmar find a way out of coup crisis?
ASEAN

Can Asia help Myanmar find a way out of coup crisis?

February 28, 2021
Athens Travel destination post Covid
Europe

Athens Travel destination post Covid

February 27, 2021
Enforcing Regulations for Forest Risk Commodities
ASEAN

Enforcing Regulations for Forest Risk Commodities

February 27, 2021
Next Post
Indonesian Police should resolve conflicts triggered by #ChangePresident movement

Indonesian Police should resolve conflicts triggered by #ChangePresident movement

Translate

Subscription

Popular Post

Putin May Have Triggered an Attempted Coup in Armenia
Bilateral

Putin May Have Triggered an Attempted Coup in Armenia

March 1, 2021
0

  Moscow (27/2).         Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced that his nation’s military had attempted a...

Read more

NGOs call for mass boycott of palm oil giant IOI

June 29, 2016
No peace for Greenpeace

No peace for Greenpeace

July 1, 2016

The Case Against Greenpeace

July 1, 2016
Children in ISIS Nusantara Media Outreach

Children in ISIS Nusantara Media Outreach

July 2, 2016
  • About Us
  • Creative Commons
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact Us

Topics

Follow Us

About Us

citizendaily.news is part of the citizen Daily Media Group LLC, which delivers daily news around the globe. ​

© 2012 The Citizen Daily

No Result
View All Result
  • Asia News
    • Northeast Asia
      • China
      • Japan
    • North Korea
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
    • South Asia
      • Afghanistan
      • Bangladesh
      • India
      • Pakistan
    • Southeast Asia
      • Indonesia
      • Malaysia
      • Philippines
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
  • World News
    • Africa
    • Europe
      • Germany
      • United Kingdom
    • Latin America
      • Cuba
      • Mexico
    • Middle East
      • Gulf States
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Syria
    • North America
      • Canada
      • United States
    • Russian Federation
  • Economy
    • Brexit
    • Free Market
  • Politics
    • ASEAN
    • Diplomacy
    • ISIS
    • National Defence & Security
  • Editorial
  • Environment
    • Climate Change
    • Forests
    • Water & Oceans
    • Wildlife & Endangered Species
  • Lifestyle
    • Books & Literature
    • Entertainment
    • Food & Dining
    • Religion
    • Travel
    • Tech
  • Sports

© 2012 The Citizen Daily