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Candidates fail to address key defense, security issues
Jokowi and Prabowo went on to talk about border security and foreign threats, but critics said they failed to address the most pressing issues on security and defense.
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Members from the Indonesian military's armoured division take part in a parade to mark the 72nd anniversary of the Indonesian military's founding in Cilegon on October 5, 2017. (AFP/Ricardo)
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lthough incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and challenger Prabowo Subianto engaged in heated arguments during the fourth official debate, critics said they failed to address the most pressing issues on security and defense.
Government spending on defense became the focus of the debate on Saturday, as the theme of weaponry modernization was drawn out of three questions prepared by panelists.
Jokowi and Prabowo went on to talk about border security and foreign threats, but there was no discussion of such current pressing issues as internal reform within the Indonesian Military (TNI), welfare of TNI personnel, the conflict in Papua or the controversial plan to allow military officials to take up civilian posts.
The potential return of the military into civilian affairs is an issue the country has yet to settle. In response to the problem of overstaffing in the TNI, Jokowi raised the idea of amending the 2004 Military Law as a constitutional channel to solve the lingering problem of numerous jobless officers in the military.
“Overall, the candidates failed to capture the most pressing issues being talked about in public on defense reform,” Ghufron Mabruri, the deputy director of rights watchdog Imparsial, said on Monday.
The actions and statements of candidates and their campaign teams throughout the campaign trails, including during the latest debate, did not reflect the spirit for a military reform, he added.
“This debate should have served as a platform for the candidates to further explore what is written in their mission statements. But in the end they talked a lot about spending,” he added.
