Prabowo Accused of Defending Caliphate, Jokowi as Communist

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The fourth presidential debate in Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta, saw that both presidential candidates Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Prabowo Subianto shared their restlessness during the second session that talked about ideology.

Prabowo started by complaining that he is often accused of defending caliphate, including by Jokowi's supporters. "My Mom is a Christian, since 18-year-old, [I] risk my life to defend Pancasila. How come I'm accused of defending caliphate, including by your (Jokowi's) supporters," he said.

Instead of arguing or answering Prabowo's question, Jokowi also shared his complaint. "I'm also often being accused as a PKI (Indonesian communist party) [member], but I don't think much about it. What is important is we defend Pancasila together," he said.

Jokowi then quipped the politicians who do not implement attitudes of Pancasila in society. "What happened to these politicians? Why don't they show a good example by being tolerance, being friendly and befriending each other?" he said.

The fourth election debate is divided into six segments in a total of 120 minutes, with Retno Pinasti and Zulfikar Naghi as the moderators. The debate's themes are focused on issues of ideology, government, security, and defense, as well as international relationships.

Dewi Nurita