Jakarta – Politicians have been advocating so-called "people oriented" platforms, pitting them against "neoliberalism" as a way to win voters' support for the July presidential election.
But ironically, they seem to be completely clueless about the essence of their platforms, a panel of economic and political experts said Friday.
"The ghosts the politicians are conjuring up – neoliberalism versus the people's economy – have been lurking around as the presidential election nears," University of Indonesia economist Faisal Basri said at a discussion about political economy in Jakarta.
"The candidates penchant for contrasting what they deem is a choice between neoliberalism and the 'economy of the people' just doesn't make any sense."
"Neoliberalism is an ideology, while the 'people's economy' is a political orientation, therefore two completely different concepts. The 'people's economy' aims to improve the common people's welfare, and has been implemented in communist nations such as Cuba, or in countries adapting to free market policies such as Norway," Faisal added.
Political rivals of the Democratic Party's presidential candidates – incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and former Bank Indonesia governor Boediono – have repeatedly attacked the latter pair on the 'people's economy' issue.
Many have condemned SBY for adopting a completely "free market policy" during his term, including Amien Rais, National Mandate Party (PAN) founder.
Amien took a few punches at SBY's governance in his book, Selamatkan Indonesia (Save Indonesia), arguing the President had sold too many national assets to foreign entities during his "free market" governance.
However, Amien softened his rhetoric toward SBY following the Democratic Party's victory in the legislative elections, teaming up with the party for the July presidential election.
Senior PAN legislator Djoko Susilo claimed Boediono's "neoliberal Western economic perspective" did not suit Indonesia. He also suspected the US might had interfered in SBY's choice of vice presidential candidate.
However, Faisal noted the neoliberalistic and pro-American portrayal of the SBY-Boediono duet was not only out of context but completely misconstrued.
"Accusing certain candidates of being neoliberalist is completely clueless, because there is no such thing as pure neoliberalism. The state will always have the power to interfere in the market," he said.
"And the place that has the most neoliberalist tendencies is Hong Kong, not the United States. The US is one of the countries where the government intervenes the most in the economy and market activity," he added.
Indonesian Centre for Responsive Politics political expert Bara Hasibuan said despite Megawati-Prabowo claiming they represented the poor, their behavior and lifestyle revealed a completely different picture.
"Prabowo is a man who enjoys playing polo in his spare time, an activity that is even extravagant for noblemen in Europe," he added. Bara also said Prabowo was yet to explain where his wealth came from, which according to a recent audit amounted to Rp 1.7 trillion (US$165 million). (hdt)