Presidential candidate Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo on Saturday evening spoke like a man who was prepared to lead the nation should he come out victorious in the July 9 presidential election.

His running mate, Jusuf Kalla, also demonstrated his role as an effective deputy to assist the leader in executing his vision and facing the public.

Meanwhile, Prabowo Subianto was often at a loss and it was very clear that he was struggling to control his temper, especially when he was cornered with questions from Jokowi and Kalla. His running mate, Hatta Rajasa, even posed a question with the intent of embarrassing Jokowi that backfired on him.

'€œWe have so many ideas, visions and missions, but they were not implemented. We have made so many promises, but there was no realization. Do not just focus on making plans, think of implementation,'€ Jokowi answered when Prabowo pressured him to answer his question on the need to massively expand rice fields.

In response to a question from the moderator on environmental protection, the non-active Jakarta governor emphasized that people were waiting for a government that took action, not one that only issued normative and development programs.

'€œWe can no longer just spout theories. Do not just be bombastic, our shortcoming now is in realization, we already made so many plans. The important thing is to implement [the plans and programs],'€ said Jokowi.

The fifth and final round of live TV debates saw participation from both presidential candidate pairs and was moderated by Sudharto P. Hadi, rector of the Semarang-based Diponegoro University.

Prabowo reiterated his ambitious plan to develop 2 million hectares of land to ensure a sustainable rice supply for the country.

Prabowo said the biggest farming problem Indonesia faced was that it was losing 60,000 hectares of farmland a year to real estate and factories. Citing data from the Agriculture Ministry, he said that for next year alone, the country needed at least 730,000 hectares of additional land to cover the loss.

The retired three-star general then explained that his government would introduce new types of fertilizers to boost agriculture production. He believed that new fertilizer introduction alone would be able to increase rice production by 40 percent.

'€œWe are using outdated fertilizers,'€ said Prabowo.

When asked about his plan to boost oil and gas production and explore renewable energy sources, both Prabowo and Hatta emphasized the importance of the upstream industry.

Hatta said that Prabowo would honor the existing oil and gas contracts but would try to renegotiate the contracts.

'€œWe need to boost oil exploration... It is important for us to exploit old oil wells [...] Save energy,'€ said the former coordinating economic minister.

Jokowi said the country had abundant energy resources, but needed strong commitment and political will to explore new energy resources. He said he would prioritize the massive conversion to natural gas, including for transportation and household needs in cities across the country.

'€œOur energy supply is abundant. Fuel oils should be converted to gas to reduce dependency on fuel oil,'€ said Jokowi.

Kalla then added, '€œWe must change our energy [strategy]. We must improve the system. We already converted to gas in the kitchen and then in transportation.'€

Hatta made a big blunder when he tried to embarrass Jokowi on his achievements as the mayor of Surakarta and governor of Jakarta. But he wrongly asked Jokowi why the two cities failed to win the Kalpataru Environment Award under his leadership. He should have referred to the Adipura Environmental Awards.

'€œWe will not answer the question because you asked the wrong question,'€ Kalla rebuked Hatta.

Both Jokowi and Kalla teased the coalition members of Prabowo, because many of them were implicated in various graft cases centering on the haj fund,Koran procurement, oil imports and beef imports.

'€œNone of our coalition members were involved such corruption,'€ said Kalla. (tjs, dyl)

Key points of the debate

Prabowo Subianto - Hatta Rajasa

'€¢ Food resilience: Food is a basic need. The government needs to ensure the availability of food by providing affordable and diversified foods.

'€¢ Energy sovereignty: We must improve gas and oil production while at the same time, reduce imports. Also, we need to develop renewable energy. We should respect the existing contracts while renegotiations take place. We also need to improve the proven reserve and develop the old oil wells

'€¢ Environment: Environmental damage is partly due to the huge population. We are seeing 5 million babies born every year. They need food. We need to raise environmental awareness. Sustainable development is a priority for us.

'€¢ Meat prices:  Food-price increases during Ramadhan, including the price of meat, are a national problem. Indonesia produces lots of cattle, but transporting cattle from West Nusa Tenggara to Jakarta is more expensive than bringing cattle from Australia.

'€¢ Kleptocracy: We know about vote-buying practices. But we let the law enforcers deal with the thieves. As a nation, we have weaknesses. If there is a government that signs a contract that disadvantages the people, I think we need to do some self-contemplation.

'€¢ Forest degradation: We must engage people in conservation efforts. We need to also improve the monitoring of illegal logging and illegal mining. Severe punishments should be handed down to those who violate the law.

Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo - Jusuf Kalla

'€¢ Food resilience: We need to survey the market before production begins. Farmers are told to grow papayas, but where is the market? We also need to develop the so-called post-harvest industry. The key to solving this problem is having good intentions and good will.

'€¢ Energy sovereignty: We have enormous sources of energy, such as gas, oil and geothermal energy. We must continue to convert oil into gas. We need to develop infrastructure for gas distribution.

'€¢ Food imports: Energy is very crucial. We are in a crisis because of the huge volume of imports. We must improve productivity by developing quality seeds, good irrigation infrastructure.

'€¢ Development: We must strike a balance between economic development, people'€™s welfare and environmental conservation. They must be developed simultaneously.

'€¢ Green environment: The Kalpataru Award given by the government is good. I think the award should be given in another form. The people must be given incentives to encourage their participation in conservation.

'€¢ Farmland: We need additional farmland. But, we must first find the water for irrigation. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past.

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