Final debate before Indonesian presidential election
JAKARTA, Feb 5 (Bernama) -- In the last debate session organised by the General Election Commission (KPU) on Sunday, the three contenders for the Indonesian presidential election, despite debating in a serious tone, managed to avoid personal attacks or sarcasm.
This is a different scenario than before, with Prabowo Subianto, Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan explaining the vision, answering questions eloquently and mastering the issues.
They navigated important topics including social, cultural, educational, information technology, health, employment, human resources and inclusion.
Defence Minister Prabowo emphasised his commitment to the ongoing development programme and emphasised several measures such as the free lunch and milk program in schools.
The stated transformation strategy covers many aspects, from improving health care, science and technology education, economic growth and tackling poverty and corruption.
"The plan is a comprehensive effort to improve the welfare of the people and build on the economic progress initiated by previous leaders to transform Indonesia by 2045," said Prabowo.
Ganjar, the former Governor of Central Java, is determined to implement improvements to the existing system through additional programmes that are in line with his vision and mission such as accelerating digitalisation and refining the law to create jobs.
Among the agendas emphasised include prioritising health and preventive aspects, inclusive education, as well as fighting for good democracy and reliable leadership.
"Health is the most important thing. Access to health facilities needs to be established in every village," said Ganjar, who is a candidate from the ruling party.
The third candidate Anies, has consistently emphasised the importance of changes in existing programmes and policies, in contrast to the stance of the previous two candidates.
Anies is determined to rejuvenate the fundamental principles and reshape his country, by solving the issues of unemployment, social security, education in remote areas, health, widespread inequality and injustice.
"We want to ensure a healthy life, reasonable growth, prosperous families with fair wages, pride in culture and developing human resources," he said.
Regarding Indonesian migrant workers abroad, Prabowo and Ganjar supported Anies' idea to involve activists who better understand the issue.
Ganjar added that the role of relevant ministries and agencies should be improved to facilitate reporting, review and facilitate immediate resolution of migrant workers' problems.
Prabowo also shared his experience of helping Indonesian female workers in Malaysia escape the death penalty as a result of information from migrant worker activists.
A total of 240 million voters will fulfil their responsibilities in determining the leadership of the world's third-largest democracy on Feb 14.
In addition to electing the president and vice president, they will vote for members of the People's Consultative Assembly, and representatives for local legislatures.
--BERNAMA
