Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – After vocally criticizing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) presidential candidate Joko Widodo for accepting campaign donations from the general public, Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party candidate Prabowo Subianto has begun doing the exact same thing.

"Prabowo and [his running mate] Hatta [Rajasa] harshly criticized the public donation scheme at first, but now, without a clear argument, they are doing the same thing," Indonesian Civic Network (Lima) head Ray Rangkuti said on Saturday.

Joko and his running mate, Jusuf Kalla, have made Rp 40 billion ($3.38 million) since opening three bank accounts in their own names on May 29 for the purpose of receiving donations, becoming the first candidates in Indonesian history to do so. Some 30,000 supporters have contributed so far, with the campaign taking in an average of Rp 2 billion per day.

Joko-Kalla campaign official Dolfie OFP said that Prabowo's about-face indicated lack of a clear vision. "This is inconsistency, they used to criticize Joko-Kalla when they opened the accounts, and now they did the same thing," he said.

At the time, the Prabowo campaign maintained that the solicitation of public donations was an undignified approach to politics. "[Joko-Kalla] claimed they wished to make Indonesia prosperous but instead they make their supporters suffer," Prabowo-Hatta campaign legal affairs head Ahmad Yani said.

The campaign implied that a viable candidate should be wealthy enough to fund his own bid. "The presidential candidate should be rich so his constituents won't have to beg for money on the street, this is a social anomaly that lowers human dignity," campaign official Suryo Prabowo said. "Why ask people to beg?"

But on Friday, the campaign announced that it would begin taking donations nonetheless.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/prabowo-flip-flops-campaign-donations/