U

nlike any other presidential election Indonesia has witnessed, for the first time we have a candidate who comes from the little people, not from the social, political or economic elite.

As such, he is well received by the Indonesian people. He is very humble and straightforward. He is known to have the people'€™s interests at heart and is incorruptible. He is Joko Widodo or '€œJokowi'€!

Jokowi is street-smart and a man of common sense. The common guess prior to the first presidential debate was that Prabowo Subianto, being a good debater, would easily crush him.

But instead he held himself well and in some instances even managed to checkmate Prabowo. His style is simple and he explained his points by giving practical examples that he learned during his career in business and local government. His overall demeanour has won most people'€™s hearts.

Jokowi'€™s personality is so transparent and what one hears from him is what one gets. The day after the first debate on June 9, his electability rating went up to 53 percent, while Prabowo reached 41 percent, a 12 percent difference between the two.

However, this rating can change, as part of the 10 percent of undecided voters may lean toward Prabowo.

Although some survey institutes are of the opinion that Prabowo'€™s rating cannot surpass Jokowi'€™s, nothing should be taken for granted by Jokowi'€™s camp and all-out efforts should be maintained in the remaining two weeks of
campaigning.

Meanwhile, rumors surrounding Prabowo'€™s human rights abuses have been certified as true by the Indonesian Military (TNI) Officers Honorary Council (DKP).

Prabowo was behind the abduction of student activists in 1998 and human rights abuses in East Timor, Aceh and other places. The most serious offense was his insubordination.

These rumors have been around for the last two years but they never really gained serious attention from the public because of a lack of evidence. However, with the DKP decision on his dismissal from the military now circulating widely, the public has been given evidence of Prabowo'€™s past deeds.

One of the generals that signed the decision declared that given the circumstances Prabowo should not even be considering running as a presidential candidate. Another said that his misdeeds had put the TNI and the Army'€™s Special Forces (Kopassus) '€” which Prabowo used to implement the abuses '€” to shame.

But the game is not yet over and a lot more effort by Jokowi'€™s camp is required to win votes on the one hand and to prevent rigging on the other. An independent quick count is needed to check the election result launched by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

While the debates are still considered important, efforts to reach out directly to the populace are critical. So far, the official campaigns have been reasonably fair, although so many cases of smear campaigns against Jokowi have not been attended to by the KPU.

As in any democratic election that is supposed to be fair, the public will only know the results after the close of voting on July 9.

If the Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla ticket wins the election, it will introduce a new era of democracy in Indonesia, where the people will define the governance because they will be listened to by Jokowi-Kalla.

If the Prabowo-Hatta Rajasa ticket wins, the government it forms will be foreseeably authoritarian. Most of the decisions will be made from above and imposed on the people. Prabowo is leaning toward Soeharto as his role model and as president he will make his former father-in-law a national hero.

Human rights would be importantly upheld by the Jokowi-Kalla administration. As Prabowo has been involved in numerous abuses during his time in the military, his campaign promises on the issue sound hollow.

Both candidates are the proponent of the so-called '€œpeople'€™s economy'€, but the way to achieve it will be different. Jokowi-Kalla, being more experienced in the private sector and in government, will be more consensual in crafting government policies by listening more to the people'€™s voice.

However, Prabowo-Hatta is expected to impose policies from above, as is evidenced in its approach to the foreign direct investment (FDI) issue.

In this presidential election, people should know where to place their trust and interest. They should know the best and right candidate.

The choice before them is very clear.

The writer is vice chair of the board of trustees of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Foundation.