Indonesia election: Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto pull final punches as campaigning draws to a close
- Widodo touted his infrastructure achievements and took a swipe at Prabowo’s questionable human rights record
- Sandiaga Uno attacked Widodo for his handling of the economy and promised cheaper prices of electricity and staple goods
Indonesian presidential candidates Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Prabowo Subianto squared off in their final debate on Saturday night, ushering in a three-day cooling-off period ahead of Wednesday’s general election.
As they sparred on the economy, social welfare, finance, trade, and investment, Prabowo said that Indonesia should learn from “great” China and evaluate its development plans considering many of its people still live below the poverty line.
“We need to look up to China, they can eradicate poverty in 40 years, we need to learn from the great,” the 67-year-old former general said. “We need to be brave in planning industrialisation and we need to protect our farmers and fishermen.”
Prabowo’s running mate, Sandiaga Uno, questioned the country’s worst-ever trade deficit of US$8.57 billion last year, down from the previous year’s surplus of US$11.8 billion. He also pointed to the country’s trade deficit of over US$18 billion with China, saying the shortfall showed Indonesia did not export enough products to offset its imports.
Widodo’s retort highlighted how the trade deficit in the first quarter of this year had shrunk to US$6.7 billion, claiming that his government’s efforts to curb the deficit had not been “in vain”.