Heru Andriyanto & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – He's rich, he's controversial, and he's unabashedly trying to amass power. And that, plus many other things, is why the arrival of businessman Prabowo Subianto as No. 2 on Megawati Sukarnoputri's election ticket has improved the profile of the former president, who had relied heavily on her political party and the Sukarno family name.
Far from the empty, boring campaign promises of nationalism and tempo dulu, or golden era politics, the pair is outlining ambitious targets if they win the July 8 presidential poll, including "pro-people" policies that aim to double the nation's per capita income to Rp 40 million ($4,000), plans for fertilizer factories with a combined output of 4 million tons annually, 10,000 extra megawatts of electrical output and other ideas that people have never heard from Megawati before.
Prabowo, a former Army general and son of Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, a leading architect of Indonesia's economic policy during the post-independence era, has brought with him flashy ideas to energize Megawati's campaign, which was little more than a vague story about Ibu Mega and "The Little People."
The economic agenda of Megawati and her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was a snoozer, mainly centered on cheaper sembako (the Indonesian acronym for nine basic commodities), with no detailed programs. These days, Megawati and her running mate hang out with farmers, fishermen and day laborers.
On a broader scale, Prabowo's self-assured demeanor and sometimes controversial statements counterbalance Megawati's lack of oratorical prowess, and attract a wider range of supporters to their ongoing campaign.
"I'm not against the free market, but our economic system is just too liberal," Prabowo said ahead of the April 9 legislative elections, in which his Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) finished eighth. "The system must be changed."
Since teaming up with Megawati, many of his ideas, widely known as "Prabowo-nomics," have appeared in the "Eight Program Actions for People's Welfare," a campaign manifesto that was recently promoted in major newspapers. The Mega-Pro ticket seeks to reschedule Indonesia's foreign debt so as to pump more money into education, health care, food production and affordable energy programs.
If they win, they promise economic growth will reach double digits by 2014, with intensified development in agriculture, energy, industry and trade.
"We have all the resources to achieve that: land, capital, technology and, in Indonesia's case I must add, a [friendly] climate," said Widya Purnama, an economic advisor to the campaign.
However, in a televised appearance last month before the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Megawati backpedaled from the double-digit growth target, calling it a "possible" target.
By contrast, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is seeking re-election, is aiming for more moderate growth of 7 percent a year to 2014.
"I like their 'pro-people' economic program but I'm worried that what they are doing is just telling people tall tales by setting those targets," said Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, chief economist at Danareksa Research Institute in Jakarta.
"They aim to accelerate growth to double digits, but at the same time their economic policy is centered within the agricultural sector. That's not a good combination," he said. "If they're eager to speed up growth, they must start thinking about high-tech manufacturing."
In the areas of food and energy, Megawati has vowed to open 2 million hectares of grain fields to boost food production, and add an additional 4 million hectares of palm plantations to support the bioethanol industry, with the aim of producing 56 million metric tons of the fuel a year.
The Mega-Pro ticket has also vowed to oblige exporters who enjoy state funding to keep foreign exchange revenues in local banks, and ban the use of government loans to build luxury houses, apartments and shopping malls, according to the campaign manifesto.
"This is the kind of breakthrough our leaders should have made a long time ago," economist Farial Anwar said. "We must not let foreign exchange revenues generated from the export of our own resources go to other countries' banks, as this country is in dire need of the dollar."
In the lead-up to the legislative elections, Prabowo and Gerinda ran a slick, top-down campaign with television advertising and sophisticated strategies to target voters, such as using focus groups. Expect that to continue and even expand with the parties' joint campaign team.
"Our strategy will translate into what we call the 'air campaign' and 'ground campaign,'?" said Hasto Kristianto, secretary of the campaign team.
The air campaign refers to reaching voters through advertising and media coverage, while the ground campaign, will see Megawati, Prabowo and selected party members meeting face to face with voters.
The air campaign team is comprised of groups for media coverage, presidential debates and advertising, led by Megawati's daughter Puan Maharani, considered a future PDI-P leader. The ground campaign team, which among other things handles events and logistics, has the look of a military alumni roll call with Maj. Gen. (ret.) Adang Ruchiatna and Lt. Gen. (ret.) Muhammad Yasin, who was a key member of Yudhoyono's 2004 campaign team.
Campaign volunteers have been dispatched to win over Muslim students at Islamic boarding schools, and a volunteer group named the Red and White People's Economy Movement claims to have secured 3 million votes from market vendors and traders.
Hasto said the volunteer teams target specific voter groups, such as farmers and women.
"Other candidates may also have such volunteer groups, but our groups differ from them by focusing on the people's economy, which we believe will attract more voters," he said.
And given the emergence of negative campaigning this election season, Mega-Pro even has a counter-intelligence operation, according to a document obtained by the Jakarta Globe, to counter any dirty tricks by their rival tickets.
"We are taking anticipatory measures with a strong message: don't use undemocratic means or you will have to deal with the team," the document said.