Jakarta – Tired with corruption and bickering among politicians, young voters have deferred their decisions about who they might vote for in next year's presidential election, hoping that someone new will come riding over the hill to save the day.
"As I think our present leaders do nothing but talk about problems. I need to find a new leader who is firm and can abolish corruption. However, so far I haven't been able to find anyone who meets my expectations, so I will need to wait until next year when the presidential candidates will be announced to see if anyone viable emerges," Andi Marsya Nadira, 19, a medical student from University of Indonesia, said.
Raffi Maulana Raspati, 21, who studies law at Trisakti University, said that he hoped for a new candidate, free of self interest, who would show sincere concern and fight for the people.
"I see the old names will run for the presidency again, and not one of them deserves to be the leader of this country. Some of them, such as Wiranto and Prabowo, have even been involved in human rights violations. I think they shouldn't get the chance to be president, but I'm worried because many people consider them honest and firm," he said.
Jessica, 20, an accounting student from Atmajaya University, said that not one of the rumored incumbent presidential candidates will fulfill their campaign promises.
"I think that our elections are not honest and clean; it's all a matter of money. I hope there will be a candidate like Jokowi [current governor of Jakarta], who has done a great job by directly solving the problems of Jakarta's people. We need a leader like him, who is disciplined and makes the people's problems his top priority," she said.
Attracting young voters is vital to winning the election, but these first-time voters are often undecided, said Ari Dwipayana, a political analyst from the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University.
"There are two possibilities, either they will find a good candidate or they will abstain. We have seen see that in regional elections this year. The abstention rate has ranged from 30 percent to 50 percent, as reflected in the results from Bali and North Sumatra," he said.
"They are waiting for the perfect candidate, because they have seen bad leaders like President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who often looks doubtful when making decisions, and seems more concerned about his political party than the nation's problems," he added.
"Meanwhile, the new Jakarta Governor, Jokowi, has attracted the public with his firm and confident approach, which includes criticizing the Jakarta Legislative Council and breaking the social and administrative boundaries traditionally set by elite politicians with his impromptu visits to villages and slums. He could be the alternative candidate," he said.
Adjie Alfaraby, a researcher at the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) said that it would be hard to find a viable alternative candidate, because under existing laws candidates for president must be or become a member of a party with a minimum 20 percent of the votes in the legislative elections in order to nominate a presidential candidate.
"The three big parties, Democrat, Golkar, and the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), will dominate the legislative election this year, and I think they will be able to nominate their presidential candidates. Golkar and PDI-P definitely have their candidates: Aburizal Bakrie and Megawati Soekarnoputri, so the only chance for alternative candidates to run for the presidency is to join the Democrat Party," he said.
"In my opinion, Indonesians wish to have a president who is honest, humble, and close to the people," Adji added. He explained that reducing prices and unemployment should be the priority of the next elected president.