Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – An American diplomat recently said that the US was ready to implement the cooperation under the recently announced "comprehensive strategic partnership" with whoever wins the Indonesian presidential election.

A few months ago, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his American counterpart Joe Biden announced a major upgrade to Indonesia-US ties. The two countries now share a comprehensive strategic partnership, which is the highest possible status of cooperation.

In about two weeks, Indonesians will vote on whether it will be Anies Baswedan, Prabowo Subianto, or Ganjar Pranowo who will lead Indonesia for the next five years. This leads to the question if the change in presidency will cause the US to adjust the elevated ties.

According to Richard R Verma, the US deputy secretary of state for management and resources, the election results should have little to no impact on the partnership as it is something that transcends one leader.

"On the [US-Indonesia] comprehensive strategic partnership, that really transcends any one person, leader, or official," Verma told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday evening.

"We are looking forward to the elections. We will implement this [comprehensive strategic partnership] with the new government, whoever that is," Verma said.

An American government fact sheet shows that Indonesia-US are planning to deepen cooperation across many fields following the comprehensive strategic partnership upgrade. For instance, both countries wish to create a "more resilient" global semiconductor value chain. The US would begin by reviewing Indonesia's current semiconductor system, including its regulatory framework and workforce. They also plan to extend the five-year memorandum of understanding on health cooperation once it expires this May.

All presidential hopefuls have previously dropped some hints at how they would pursue diplomatic ties with the US should they win the election. Anies not long ago called the US a strategic partner to Indonesia on the economic front. Prabowo said he was ready to work with "anyone lawfully elected" in the US, which would hold its very own election in November. Ganjar said that the US-China rivalry could benefit Indonesia as Jakarta could supply goods to the two major powers who were refusing to buy from one another.

Anies, Prabowo, and Ganjar will have their final debate this weekend. They will tackle issues related to social welfare, labor, education, and health, among other things. The presidential election is slated to take place on Feb. 14. As many as 204.8 million Indonesians are eligible to cast their votes. Polls have shown that Prabowo, whose running mate is Jokowi's son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, is in the lead.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/us-says-its-ready-to-work-with-indonesias-next-presiden