Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A year out from the general elections, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla have launched early campaigns to woo voters.
Yudhoyono kicked off a three-day tour starting in Indramayu, West Java, on Tuesday, a day after Kalla wrapped up a four-day field trip across Java, which included Malang and Yogyakarta.
The President attended a celebration for the Prophet Muhammad's birthday in Pekalongan, Central Java, on Wednesday, despite having previously attended three similar celebrations.
The two leaders spoke with people who earn low incomes, such as farmers, and small business owners. They distributed staple food packages to locals at stops along the way.
In Indramayu, for instance, Yudhoyono promised a welfare program for residents and donated 3,000 staple food packages to fishermen. Three directors of state-owned banks who accompanied the President on the tour provided unsecured loans to local businesspeople.
BRI president director Sofyan Basir, BNI president director Gatot M. Suwondo and Mandiri president director Agus Martowardojo provided credit worth Rp 28.34 billion (US$3.08 million), Rp 8.1 billion and Rp 3.54 billion, respectively, to Indramayu businesspeople.
Kalla's promises to farmers in Bantul, Yogyakarta, and Tambung, Malang, East Java, made during a harvest ceremony, included securing the affordability of rice and other staple foods, building dams and making available cheap fertilizer.
In Bantul on Monday, Kalla took his entourage of officials and journalists on an unscheduled visit to a traditional market to meet vendors of leather products.
"It's like a contest," said Ikrar Nusa Shakti of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. "If Kalla does something or goes somewhere, Yudhoyono must do the same. What is the point of traveling as far as Pekalongan just to attend the Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebrations? Wouldn't it be better for him to tackle poverty?"
He said the two leaders' populist policies included only consumptive programs, such as the distribution of staple food packages, without providing people with income-generating activities.
Effendi Gozali of the University of Indonesia said the most important question was whether the leaders would follow up their policies with concrete actions.
"If not, they will give people false hope and create even greater disappointment. If SBY promises better delivery of gas, for instance, then it should be made to happen," he said.
Daniel Sparringa of Airlangga University in Surabaya said Yudhoyono and Kalla had taken advantage of their position as incumbents to start their early campaigns. "It is common for incumbents to link their campaign agenda to state duties using state resources," he said.
All observers said the early campaigns should not be allowed to take the leaders' time, energy and funds away from their current duties.