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s the candidates for the 2019 presidential election kicked off their campaigns on Sunday, foreign policy experts surmised that each candidate’s leadership style would ultimately determine the direction of Indonesia’s foreign policy.

Incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his challenger, Prabowo Subianto, would likely try to put their own local twist on the articulation of their respective foreign policy stances to help Indonesia on its way toward greater global influence, said Teuku Rezasyah of Bandung’s Padjajaran University.

“Both candidates will seek to enrich our foreign policy with local wisdom. For instance, they are likely to bring Indonesian values [into their plans to achieve the] Sustainable Development Goals, which currently don’t have [any local expression],” Rezasyah told The Jakarta Post recently, in reference to a set of 17 United Nations-backed global goals to end poverty, protect the planet and spur prosperity by 2030.

The two candidates would also continue to strengthen Indonesia’s borders and seek to portray the country as a global role model for interfaith dialogue and peace, he said.

And while the focal points of Indonesia’s foreign policy would likely remain the same — based on a constitutional mandate to contribute to world peace — foreign policy under the two leaders would look different on account of their respective leadership style, the foreign policy lecturer said.

Jokowi, who has chosen Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Ma’ruf Amin as his running mate, would probably continue on the path he had chosen, entrusting the Foreign Ministry with taking the lead on the direction of Indonesian foreign policy, in what Rezasyah said amounted to respect for procedural values.

On the other hand, Prabowo’s military leadership background would likely result in him taking a more active role in directing foreign policy.

“He will probably rely on the foreign ministry to come up with the ideas, which he would then proceed to sharpen and execute,” the international relations lecturer said. Prabowo, he continued, was also likely to lead with more of an iron fist — the kind that is unafraid to show disagreement with other countries.

Meanwhile, Paramadina University lecturer Dinna Wisnu predicted that Prabowo would sway to a more populist foreign policy direction that may involve nationalist jargon, particularly in the economic sphere.

“It is not impossible that, one day, Indonesia may suddenly become protectionist and revoke its free-trade agreements,” she said, adding that significant changes were likely to take place in Indonesia’s ties with China and the United States.

However, with the shadow of past human rights abuses bearing down on him, Prabowo would not likely have the credibility to talk about human rights on the global state, Dinna said.

“Some countries in Europe and Africa will have psychological barriers in granting trust to a Prabowo administration. Our posture in ASEAN as a human rights champion may also be potentially affected,” she said.

Meanwhile, former foreign minister Marty Natalegawa argued that both presidential hopefuls might not even make any significant changes to Indonesia’s foreign policy, given that it already followed certain
“guidelines”.