Presidential race turns nationalist

Economic sovereignty is a key slogan for Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, and his running mate Jusuf Kalla, as well as for Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Hatta Rajasa.

They emphasise self-sufficiency in food and energy, as well as a review of the oil and gas sector and related laws, to boost national capacity.

The July 9 presidential election will be a two-way race pitting Jakarta governor Joko against former special orces commander Prabowo.

The Jokowi-Kalla document argued that this focus on self-reliance was not aimed at isolating the country, but to improve its competitiveness by relying on available resources and developing them first.

Both pairings outlined their platforms, broad strategies and targets in documents filed with the Election Commission this week, as required by law, and uploaded on its website.

The Jokowi-Kalla ticket, in its 41-page submission, pledged to bring about clean and effective governance, reform law enforcement agencies, improve labour productivity and competitiveness, and set a target of processing investment and business licences within 15 days – plans that if realised, would improve the business climate. The manifesto also calls for limits on the sale of shares in banks to foreigners, and reciprocal access for Indonesian banks in nations that have banks in Indonesia. Meanwhile, critics have taken issue with Prawobo’s human rights record, and his coalition also includes four Islamic parties, some of whose leaders have condoned religious intolerance.