Economic Problems Become Priority

Issues related to the economy and people\'s welfare are expected to be a priority in the 2019 presidential election. The role of volunteers will also be more important because political parties and legislative candidates tend to be busy during legislative elections.

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (second left), his running mate KH Ma\'ruf Amin (left), Prabowo Subianto (second right) and his running mate Sandiaga Uno chat before the Declaration of a Peaceful Campaign for the 2019 presidential election at the National Monument compound, Central Jakarta, on Sunday (23/9/2018). At the event, which was also attended by representatives of political parties, and a number of legislative candidates, they declared their campaigns would be free of ethnic, religious, tribal or inter-group (SARA) issues, vote-buying and hoax news.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The 2019 presidential election will become the second meeting between Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto in the democratic contestation. In the 2014 presidential election, the two also competed against each other, but with different vice presidential candidates.

In terms of vision and mission, some aspects of the 2014 general election remain the same. The 2019 presidential election is expected to be dominated by issues related to the economy and public welfare.

From the vision and mission submitted by the two candidate pairs to the General Elections Commission (KPK), Joko Widodo-Ma\'ruf Amin\'s vision is similar to that of Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla in the 2014 general election, namely "the realization of Indonesia, which is sovereign, independent and with personality based on mutual cooperation".

Meanwhile, the vision of the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pair in the 2019 general election is "the realization of the Republic of Indonesia nation and state, which is just, prosperous with dignity, religious, sovereign in the political field, standing on its own feet in the economic field, and has a strong national personality in the field of culture and guarantees a harmonious life among citizens regardless of ethnicities, religions, social backgrounds and races based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution of the  Republic of Indonesia ".

In terms of frequency of words, the words that frequently appear in Prabowo-Sandiaga\'s vision and mission, include "quality", "dignity", "prosperity" and "fair". Meanwhile, in the vision and mission of Jokowi-Ma\'ruf, the words "independent" and "trusted" appear more than once.

Deputy chairman of the Jokowi-Ma\'ruf campaign team, Arsul Sani, in Jakarta, Monday (24/9/2018), confirmed the absence of a significant difference between the vision and mission in the Nawacita I and  Nawacita II programs. This is because the nature of Jokowi-Ma\'ruf\'s campaigns is to continue the vision and mission and programs of the Jokowi-Kalla government.

The first focus of the Jokowi-Ma\'ruf program is still human development. A relatively new program in the Jokowi-Ma\'ruf camp is the strengthening of the community economy and religious education institutions.

Gerindra Party deputy chairman Fadli Zon said the economic problem that becomes the focus of Prabowo-Sandiaga\'s vision and mission in the 2019 General Election also did not differ greatly from Prabowo\'s vision and mission in the 2014 presidential election. This was because the Jokowi-Kalla government was considered not optimal in the economic field.

A researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Arya Fernandes, believes micro-economic issues will become the focus of Prabowo\'s campaign. The issue is, for example, related to access to employment and the prices of basic necessities. Sandiaga\'s presence, he said, will affect the narrative of the campaigns. Meanwhile, Jokowi\'s camp will emphasize the success of the government.

Volunteers

With regard to the winning team, Fadli said there were differences in the composition of the 2019 team when compared to 2014. If the 2014 team was dominated by party figures, in 2019 it accommodates outside party figures, totaling to about 30 percent of the total team members.

"The entrance of figures from outside the parties is to expand the constituent base. We also cannot turn a blind eye to the strengthening of figures from outside the parties and civil society," he said.

The work of the winning team will also be supported by volunteers. "All forces are mobilized, from parties, legislative candidates, winning bodies, to volunteers," he said.

In the Jokowi-Ma\'ruf camp, volunteers will play a more important role compared to 2014. This is because the legislative and presidential elections, which will be held simultaneously in 2019, make the parties and legislative candidates tend to focus more on the acquisition of their own seats in the legislative elections. "The presence of volunteers is even more important when the parties and legislative candidates think about obtaining their own votes," Arsul said. He added, currently there were 420 volunteer groups in the Jokowi-Ma\'ruf camp.

According to Arie Sudjito, a sociologist from Gadjah Mada University, the increasing importance of volunteer presence was also triggered by a decline in public trust in political parties.

However, these volunteers must be managed properly. "Volunteers have an advantage in political education missions. In addition to trying to win candidates, volunteers also need to have an argument why they support certain candidates," Arie said.

A researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Syarif Hidayat, said volunteers had become a new political machine besides campaign teams, political parties and materials. "Volunteers appear to be the fourth political engine because they strongly influence public opinion when their voting behavior has not been fully based on rational considerations. Being not rational in the sense that they choose not based on the consideration of political ideology, but highly determined by the figure and how much (money) they get," he said.

(GAL/APA/AGE/IAN/REK)