Indonesia’s presidential candidates clashed over national fertilizer shortages at Tuesday’s inaugural debate of the 2024 campaign, with the three trading blame and using the problem to highlight broader policy differences.

Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto said it was important to include farmers and fishermen among the country’s vulnerable groups before criticizing his opponent Ganjar Pranowo, the former governor of Central Java, over fertilizer shortages that had beset the province during his decade in office.

Prabowo raised the topic despite instructions from the General Elections Commission (KPU) that the debate should explore questions of law, corruption, human rights, democracy and governance.

“During my travels to Central Java, [I saw] the difficulties farmers faced in securing fertilizer supplies,” said Prabowo in the first of five debates scheduled ahead of the 2024 presidential election, held at the KPU headquarters.

He criticized Ganjar’s flagship Farmer’s Card program, designed to monitor the availability of subsidized fertilizer, saying it was “exacerbating the problem of fertilizer access”.

“Farmers have voiced their frustration with the Farmer’s Card, lamenting that it instead complicates the process of obtaining the supply,” Prabowo said, “They want [a system] that is simple.”

Read also: Race heats up with testy first debate

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