Scholars, intellectuals endorse Prabowo’s bid

Pupils of Telaga Biru state elementary school in Gorontalo, northern Sulawesi, get ready to go home unusually early on Wednesday because a field in front of their school is being used for a campaign event. The Election Law forbids political campaigning at locations such as schools, places of worship or hospitals. (Antara/Adiwinata Solihin)

The Jakarta Globe – A group of university professors and intellectuals announced on Wednesday its collective endorsement of Gerindra Party presidential candidate and chief patron Prabowo Subianto, giving the retired army general another moral boost ahead of the upcoming presidential election.

Former Bandung-based Padjadjaran University rector Yuyun Wirasasmita, who read the group’s endorsement during a gathering in which Prabowo and Gerindra officials were in attendance, claimed the group represented 300 professors and intellectuals from all over the country who considered Prabowo to be the most suitable person to take on the country’s complicated social and economic problems.

“Despite its abundant resources, Indonesia has failed to become what it should be: a developed country […] We know the facts and we can’t be fooled. We have found a leader that can transform Indonesia into a strong nation in the future,” Yuyun said, referring to Prabowo.

Among the scholars and intellectuals that attended Wednesday’s gathering were former Golkar Party lawmaker and Indonesian Muslim Scholar Association (ICMI) presidium board member Marwah Daud Ibrahim; Jakarta-based Dr. Hamka Muhammadiyah University (Uhamka) rector Suyatno; Jakarta-based Pancasila University’s (UP) engineering professor Antonius Anton; and Mahmud Hamundu, former rector of the Haluoleo University in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi.

UP’s school of communication dean Andi Faisal Bakti, who organized the gathering, however, said the group had only accommodated the political views from emeritus professors or non-civil servant professors to avoid conflicts of interest.

“I, however, believe there would be more support for Pak Prabowo if we include [professors] who are classified as civil servants,” Andi said.

The 2014 law on state civil apparatus prohibits civil servants from becoming a member of any political party. According to the Education and Culture Ministry, as of 2010 Indonesia had 4,717 professors out of a total of 197,922 university educators in 83 state universities and over 3,000 private institutions.

Prabowo said he felt honored by such an endorsement. “Your support reinforces my belief that we can eradicate poverty in this country.”

Later in the day, Prabowo attended a discussion at the Muhammadiyah headquarters in Central Jakarta to share his vision and mission as a presidential candidate in front of the leaders of the country’s second-largest Muslim organization.

“I’m supposed to be out of town today. But I dare not decline Muhammadiyah’s invitation [to come here]. In this country, Muhammadiyah and NU [Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s largest Muslim organization] are two organizations that you cannot ignore,” Prabowo said, chuckling.

In his speech, Prabowo also deplored the “bitter fact” of Indonesia being unable to develop into an advanced country despite its abundant natural resources, a situation that Prabowo promised his audience would change under his leadership.

On the sidelines of the discussion, Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin said that the presence of Prabowo in the discussion did not indicate political support for Prabowo.

“This not about political support, rather it is about holding an open discussion and sharing views,” he said.

Meanwhile in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, heavy rain briefly disrupted a Golkar Party campaign rally, which was attended by the party’s presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie.

The majority of the audience in front of the main stage, totaling around 2,000 people, however, remained at the Sangkareang field to listen to Aburizal’s speech.

In his speech, Aburizal repeated the same pledges from his previous campaigns, such as the provision for 12-year free education and easy access to loans with low interest for small and medium enterprises.

Mataram was Aburizal’s second stop in his five-day Eastern Indonesia tour that will mark his final rally before the campaign season ends on April 5. Later on Wednesday, he and his entourage left for Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

Indonesia Candidate Backs Nimbler Economic Nationalism

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto of the Great Indonesia Movement Party gestures during a speech. Reuters

WSJ – A prominent but polarizing Suharto-era general running for president is pushing for a more relaxed dose of Indonesia’s controversial economic nationalism following the rollout of laws to pressure mining companies to invest billions in building refining capacity.

Prabowo Subianto said that he “strongly” believes the Southeast Asian country, the world’s fourth-most populous at about 240 million people, needs to keep more of the money from raw materials by processing them at home, which would help overcome poverty, but that compromise is needed.

“I’m considered a strong economic nationalist, but I’m also a realist,” Mr. Subianto said in an interview Wednesday as the country readies for months of elections that will lead to the first change in leadership in a decade. “It should not be done in a way that backfires on you. The goal is improved prosperity.”

Such goals have fueled policy from Japan to India to the European Union and more, but Indonesia’s history of corruption and mistrust of foreigners have earned a reputation as a minefield for investors caught on the wrong side of changing laws, murky ownership and uncertain enforcement of contracts.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s team eased regulations in his first five-year term, but took a harder line in the second. In January, the government banned the export of raw mineral ores and raised taxes on some concentrates to force mining companies to spend billions of dollars to build refining capacity and keep that lucrative work here. Indonesia is a major source of commodities such as nickel ore, bauxite, tin, copper and thermal coal.

Following worsening outcry from small local mining companies and international giants such as Freeport-McMoRan FCX -2.52% and Newmont Mining Corp. NEM -1.18% that the plans were economically unfeasible and would lead to job losses, officials said Sunday that Indonesia may reduce export duties “case by case” for companies “serious” about refining here. [Click here for full article…]

Ahok ready to run for vice president

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama: (JP/Jerry Adiguna)

Jakarta Post – Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Gerindra Party member, revealed on Tuesday that he had been touted as a potential vice presidential candidate for this year’s presidential election.

“During informal luncheons, my colleagues in Gerindra have said that I may be a potential running mate for [Gerindra chief patron] Pak Prabowo [Subianto],” Ahok said at City Hall, adding that “however, there was no formal decision yet”.

He acknowledged that Gerindra should focus on grabbing as many votes as possible during the legislative election, slated to be held on April 9.

“Without gaining more than 20 percent of the seats at the House of Representatives, how can Gerindra nominate its own presidential candidate?” he said.

Despite no formal arrangement from Gerindra, Ahok hinted that he would not refuse the offer.

“If I am asked by my party to run [for vice president], I’ll certainly accept the request. Whether it is to run for governor or president, I’m prepared to serve my party,” he cited.

When asked whom he would choose if both Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Prabowo ask him to be their running mate, he declined to answer and instead responded with a joke. [Click here for full article…]

Jokowi dips in popularity, Prabowo on the rise: Poll

Jakarta Post – A new public opinion poll has found that Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s electability rating is sliding while that of his strongest rival, Gerindra Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto, is on the up.

The latest survey conducted by the United Data Center (PDB) said Jokowi’s electability rating for the 2014 presidential election was 31.8 percent, Prabowo’s was 12.8 percent.

Although Jokowi remains on top of the polls, his electability rating decreased by 4.2 percent from 36 percent since the survey was first conducted in October, 2013.

Prabowo’s electability rating, on the other hand, has increased by 6.2 percent from 6.6 percent.

For its latest survey, the PDB interviewed 1,200 respondents by phone between Feb. 7 and 10 in 15 large cities in Indonesia: Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Medan, Palembang, Balikpapan, Banjarmasin, Mataram, Kupang, Makassar, Ambon and Jayapura.

The survey, however, only asked for a straight-forward preference without requesting them to elaborate on their preferences.

“The survey we conducted did not include why the candidate was deemed electable or not,” PDB researcher, Agus Herta Sumarto told a press briefing Friday.

PDB cofounder Peter F. Gontha said that Jokowi and Prabowo had benefitted from heavy media coverage.

“Jokowi is the media darling. The press write about him every day, whereas Prabowo is putting a lot of money and effort into television exposure,” he said.

The survey found that State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan came in third place with an electability rate of 5.8 percent.

Hanura Party chairman Wiranto came in fourth with 5.6 percent.

The survey also found that 27 percent of respondents were still undecided.

“We should pay close attention to this 27 percent. They will be our swing voters in the upcoming elections and ultimately decide the results,” Peter added.

The survey, conducted between Feb. 7 and Feb. 10, mostly targeted middle- to upper-class respondents
because people from the low-income bracket had no access to land-line telephones, Agus said.

The PDB will conduct their next survey in March, this one will include people from the lower classes to gleam a more accurate interpretation of who might win the 2014 presidential election in July.

Responding to the survey’s findings NasDem party executive, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, said that it was not a true representation of the current political condition. [Click here for full article…]

Gerindra considers Prabowo-Hatta ticket

Jakarta Post – The Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party is mulling whether to pair chief patron Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto with National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman and Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, to run in the upcoming presidential race.

Lawmaker Martin Hutabarat, a member of Gerindra’s board of patrons, said on Wednesday that the party considered Hatta to be an excellent running mate for Prabowo in the elections.

“PAN chairman Hatta Rajasa is among individuals we are considering as vice-presidential candidates for Prabowo,” Martin said.

According to Martin, the pairing of Prabowo with his Javanese and military background and Hatta’s non-Javanese, civilian, background would make a perfect combination, although the final decision will be determined by the result of the legislative election in April.

“Gerindra is working on raising public support so that we will have enough votes in the legislative election in order to nominate Prabowo as our presidential candidate,” Martin, a lawmaker from the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing law and human rights, said.

The discussion on a possible match between Prabowo and Hatta in the elections was sparked after they held a meeting last February, which quickly led to speculation that the two party leaders were working on a deal that would pave the way for a coalition in the 2014 presidential election.  [Click here for full article…]

Prabowo, Hatta to Join Hands in Election

Prabowo Subianto. (Illustration: Kendra H Paramita)

Tempo.Co – Member of the Great indonesia Movement party (Gerindra) advisory board Martin Hutabarat, said that Head of Gerindra’s Advisory Board Prabowo Subianto, has decided to run with Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Hatta Rajasa, for the presidential election in 2014.

“We have intensified our communication with PAN,” said Martin at the Parliamentary Complex, Senayan, on Tuesday, February 11, 2014.

Martin was not worried that the collaboration between the two parties would fail to reach the 20 percent presidential threshold. He said, Gerindre is capable of reaching the target even without the help of PAN. Martin was convinced that the two figures would win the election. [Click here for full article…]

PAN Eyes Prabowo-Hatta Ticket

National Mandate Party (PAN) Chairman Hatta Rajasa speaks to reporters. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

Jakarta Globe – The National Mandate Party said on Tuesday that it was not expecting to nominate a presidential candidate in the upcoming election, and that it was considering a vice-presidential berth attached to Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) head Prabowo Subianto’s potenial candidacy.

“If we can’t reach [20 percent of seats in the house of representative — the threshold for eligibility in the presidential elections], we have to combine with another party,” said National Mandate Party (PAN) deputy secretary, Herman Kadir. “For instance, if we join with [Gerindra], PAN has to be realistic and take the second position.”

PAN chairman Hatta Rajasa would not seek a presidential nomination if the party fared poorly in the upcoming legislative elections, Herman said.

Herman said that PAN and Gerindra would make a good coalition — with Prabowo as the presidential candidate and Hatta as his running mate.

“This republic still needs a military [leader] because there are many strong separatist movements and chaos,” Herman said. “Who will handle them but the military?”

The Golkar party was forecast to win the highest percentage of the vote — 18.3 percent — neck and neck with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which was forecast to win around 18.2 percent, according to a survey released on Sunday by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI). Gerindra was predicted to come in third, with 8.7 percent of total votes. The ruling Democratic Party was predicted to finish in fourth place with 4.7 percent and PAN was set to gain 3.3 percent of the vote. [Click here for full article…]

Opinion: What really happened in Kraras?

Jakarta Post – An article by Aboeprijadi Santoso in the Dec. 20, 2013 edition of The Jakarta Post suggests that former Army’s Special Forces (Koppasus) commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto was responsible for the killing of an East Timorese leader whom he had invited to meet him unarmed, as well as being responsible for the massacres of Kraras.

I do not like to talk about Kraras. It is a black page in our history but perhaps it is finally time to talk about what happened back then.

My mother was German and that means one always has a residual feeling of guilt.

When Adolf Hitler was in power, my mother was in high school. She was not a Nazi and did not participate in the killings in the concentration camps but as a child I remember hearing my parents say that a people must take communal responsibility for what their government does.

I found it very hard to accept that my mother had to take some measure of responsibility for what the German authorities had done during the war.

I once asked journalist Mochtar Lubis: “If a person’s country does something terrible that they do not agree with, then what must they do as a citizen so as not to have to bear a communal responsibility for their country’s actions?”

He replied: “I can only answer that question for myself. For me, it meant having to go to prison and giving up my newspaper but each person must decide the answer for themselves.”

At the end of 1995, my siblings and I were passionately discussing a book about East Timor and our communal responsibility. My brother commented that at the very least we all bore a civil responsibility to try to find out what was really happening there. [Click here for full article…]

Prabowo Subianto – Economic interests of investors in Indonesia : Convergence and divergence

Jakarta Post – Throughout history there have been many examples of foreign investment that was exploitative and destructive, while in other cases foreign investment yielded positive returns to both the overseas investor and the target country — most likely a developing, sparsely populated one.

The classic example is British investment in the American colonies, which built vast fortunes for those involved in cotton, tobacco and other commodities.

Eventually the wealth that was generated enabled an educated class to struggle for political freedom — much as independence movements in Asia have sprung up in the most prosperous colonies, with Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia among them.

We won our independence but continue to seek foreign investment to build our nation. This is a regrettable reality, considering how other previously poor nations such as South Korea and Japan have outpaced us.

The question for 2014, then, is how to strike a deal with the foreign investor, whether it is a joint venture or a multinational operation entering Indonesia. We welcome them — but demand fair treatment.

One of the inaccurate charges leveled against me, which I would like to correct, is the notion that I am somehow against foreign investment in Indonesia and, if elected, would tend toward nationalization of businesses currently controlled by multinational interests.

Considering the wisdom of allowing a specific project to go ahead, it is important to define the interests and objectives of all concerned. Foreign investment is not charity. Those who place their hard-earned capital in an industry, business or resource extraction operation in another country naturally expect a return — a somewhat higher return than they would reap in their own country, where there are fewer legal, economic, political and social variables and, thus, considerably less risk. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia Elections: A Chance for America to Re-Engage in Asia

Huffington Post – Two years ago President Obama declared that America was “all in” on a U.S. foreign policy “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific Region. A U.S. shift in policy focus from the Middle East and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to a longer term commitment to strategic economic and security interests in Asia was welcomed news in many Southeast Asian countries. Since then, little progress has been made in the execution of this policy pivot. However, the upcoming Indonesian elections offer an opportunity for the U.S. to re-engage in Asia by supporting and advancing mutual democratic values and principles to ensure a free, fair and credible election and the first peaceful democratic transition of power.

President Obama’s statements promising a renewed interest in Asia were particularly well received in Indonesia. He spent four years of his childhood in Jakarta, returned for a visit in 2010, and enjoys broad popularity throughout the country despite several recent trip cancellations. Unfortunately, the president’s commitment of an increased presence in and attention to the region have gone largely and remains a back-seat priority due to ongoing crises in the Middle East, such as Syria, and all-consuming domestic issues, such as fiscal emergencies and the troubled rollout of the Affordable Care Act. However, Indonesia has fast approaching parliamentary and presidential elections in 2014 which offer the U.S. an opportunity to again press the “reset button”, this time on the pivot to Asia policy shift. As illustrated by Indonesia’s willingness to sign and support for continuing the U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (CPA any serious presidential candidate in Indonesia would see the vision of the American pivot as essential to the country’s trade and economic development future.

The Indonesia elections are critically important to U.S. interests in the region. American engagement and support for a free, fair, and credible poll will significantly advance several points of strategic interest for the U.S. First, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world but simultaneously remains a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-religious society based on tolerance and mutual respect. The Indonesian government has consistently pushed polices that support religious, ethnic and cultural diversity but religious intolerance is on the radical Islam has begun to increase, and a rapidly growing number of local governments have passed legislation based on more extreme versions of Sharia law. The U.S., Indonesia, and other countries in the region can simply not afford for the cancerous growth of Islamic extremism to spread throughout the country risking violence, upheaval, or worse – a failed state. The overwhelming majority of the Indonesia population does not want to see an expansion of extreme Islamic law and the most effective way to ensure the will of the people is reflected is through guaranteeing free, fair, peaceful and credible elections and a smooth democratic power transition in 2014. [Click here for full article…]

Scholars, intellectuals endorse Prabowo’s bid

The Jakarta Globe – A group of university professors and intellectuals announced on Wednesday its collective endorsement of Gerindra Party presidential candidate and chief patron Prabowo Subianto, giving the retired army general another moral boost ahead of the upcoming presidential election. Former Bandung-based Padjadjaran University rector Yuyun Wirasasmita, who read the group’s endorsement during a gathering […]