The former Central Java governor sat down with Franz, an influential philosophy scholar and vaunted defender of pluralism, at the Driyarkara Jakarta School of Philosophy on Friday morning, where they talked about the importance of statesmanship and the role that the political elite have in upholding the nation’s democracy.

“Indonesia still has a bright future,” Franz said, as quoted by state news agency Antara. “But we have to overcome the problems that we are currently facing, such as corruption [and] a declining democracy.”

During their meeting, Franz gave Ganjar two books that he authored, Political Ethics and Faith in Challenges. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician said they would “equip [him] with stories about the ethics and morals of participating” in public life.

“Politics is not about winning people left or right, but succeeding, advancing Indonesia as a nation,” he said. “We must recommit ourselves to integrity, honesty.”

An expert in Indonesian politics but also Javanese cultural norms, the German-born philosopher counts among the nation’s most prominent champions of pluralism and one of its leading lights in the fight against corruption.

Ganjar said he would respect Franz’s decision to remain neutral, in acknowledgement of his position as a public figure from a religious institution.

Read also: Candidate profile: Ganjar PranowoLater that day, Ganjar visited Boediono, an economist who served as vice president during the second term of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration, at his private residence in Gondangdia, Central Jakarta.

Ganjar said that he came to ask Boediono for his insights and advice in managing the country’s economy, including how to have “good institutional management, good human resources management and good programs”.

“When I was in government, or even since the New Order, I was not a decision maker, but I understood information. I tried to answer his questions about economics and development,” Boediono said, as quoted by Antara.

Ganjar is running for the top job together with his running mate, Coordinating Minister of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD. Their ticket is backed by the PDI-P and members of its political alliance.

They will go up against presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, as well as former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and vice presidential candidate Muhaimin Iskandar.

The official campaign season is set to begin on Tuesday and will run through to Feb. 10 of next year, even though the candidates have already embarked on pre-campaign tours across the nation in search of support from prominent figures and voter groups.

So far, Ganjar and Mahfud have polled well in Central Java and Yogyakarta, with good prospects in the Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua provinces, according to Indikator Politik Indonesia as of Nov. 1.

The pair is also dominant in Java overall, according to an August survey by the Kompas daily’s research and development arm.