Ahead of the third round of presidential debate on Sunday, January 7, 2024, each presidential candidates have apparently prepared themselves for the debate that will focus on defense, security, geopolitics and international relations.
pokesman of the Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD Election Winning Team, Chico Hakim, said in the middle of his busy schedule, Presidential Candidate Ganjar Pranowo takes time to discuss the issues with his campaign team, including his running mate Mahfud MD, who is the incumbent Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs; former Indonesian Military Chief Gen. (ret) Andika Perkasa; and former governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) Andi Widjajanto.
“So basically, Pak Ganjar dicuss the issues with them and also with several experts outside the team, but I do not know exactly who the experts are,” Chico told Indonesia Business Post on Friday, January 5,2024.
The third edition of the presidential debate is scheduled to take place at Istora Senayan in Jakarta on Sunday. As a seasoned politician including two period as members of parliament and Governor of Central Java, Ganjar is deemed to have broad knowledge, particularly on defence and security issues in relation with geopolitics.
“For example, the problem of fertilizers scarcity nationwide was due to the lack of supply of raw materials from Russia and Ukraine which had been engaged in a war for nearly two years. So all aspect of our life is impacted by geopolitics, even more Pak Ganjar was in high position as Central Java Governor at the peak of the war,” Chico said.
Separately interviewed, Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar Election Winning Team said Aniesis ready for the Sunday debate.
“Pak Anies is 100% ready for the third debate. Touring regions across the country to greet supporters will still be a priority as well as the debate. In addition to preparing physical and mental condition, Pak Anies certainly reads a lot of material, debate substance, and hold discussion with the team’s board of experts and related deputies,” Spokesperson for the Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar (AMIN) Election Winning Team, Billy David, said as quoted by detik.com.
Billy said Anies has sufficiently prepared himself, while citing that the former Jakarta Governor had earlier attended discussions on similar issues held by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI).
“So the ideas for the debate are already preparedby our policy formulation team. These ideas have also been tested in public forum, involving experts,” he said.
In an interview with Antaranews.com, Anies called on the importance for Indonesia to exercise global authority through various active diplomatic activities to gain respect from countries in the world.
“Indonesia must exercise authority at the global level. In addition to active diplomacy, Indonesia must also have economic, cultural, social and defense capacities,” Anies said last Wednesday, January 3, 2024.
Meanwhile, spokesman of Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, said Prabowo is well prepared for the debate. The presidential hopeful, he said, will come for the debate equipped with long experience and excellent knowledge related to the current global dynamics in defense, security and geopolitical affairs.
In an interview with Kompas.tv, Chairman of Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka Election Winning Team, Rosan P. Roeslani, said Prabowo had made no special preparation, but had been refreshing defense issues by reading books ahead of the third debate session on Sunday.
“There is no special preparation. But he told me, yes, he will read his (collection of) books again,” Rosan said.
He explained that Prabowo often read books on defence, geopolitics, international relations, and many other subjects. In fact, he continued, Prabowo is so fond of reading that whenever he travels abroad, the former Commander of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus) always takes his time to a bookstore.
“He is indeed a person who likes to read. When I accompanied him, he would go to bookstores. When he was abroad, he also asked to go to a bookstore,” added Rosan.
Candidates’ profiles
Intelligence analyst Retired Air Marshal Prayitno Ramelan says Prabowo is apparently the most competent presidential candidate in defense, security, geopolitical and foreign policy issues because of his long career as a military man and defense minister. However, his portofolio can also be a vulnerable point because other candidates can also raise questions about his track record as defense minister.
“There are some issues in the purchase of defense equipment such as the planned purchase of Mirage jet figther, it can backfire, and similarly with his perception on balance of power,” Prayitno said.
In his opinion, should Anies have complete data on defense and geopolitical issues, he can talk better on them than Prabowo. Political analyst Emrus Sihombing said all three candidates have deep and broad knowledge on defense, geopolitical, and foreign policy issues. However, in terms of courage and understanding on Indonesia’s foreign policy, Ganjar has better perspective and policy to offer.
Emrus cited Ganjar’s stance that rejected Israel’s participation in the FIFA U-17 World Cup that was earlier planned to be held in Indonesia last year. Such firm stance is based on Indonesia’s position that recognizes freedom as the rights of all nations.
“From the current war between Israel and Palestine, we can see that Palestine needs freedom, and Ganjar has shown that he has the courage and knowledge on geopolitics and international relation,”Emrus said.
