Indonesia`s Defense System Still Too Weak: Prabowo Subianto

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto has believed that the security and defense system of Indonesia is weak due to budget constraints.

"In the defense and security fields, we are too weak. Our budget is too small. We will fix this," he said during the fourth presidential debate for the 2019 presidential elections, held on Saturday.

He also said he would establish sound foreign relationship with every country. A thousand friends are too few, and one enemy is too many, he said.

Concerning ideology issue, he said state ideology Pancasila is final for Indonesia, and there is no way to replace it.

Read also: Indonesia Needs Strong Defense Capability: Prabowo

He also said that he would strengthen the administration and eradicate corruption if he is elected as the country's next president.

Indonesia will organize legislative and presidential elections simultaneously on April 17, 2019, across the country.

The 2019 presidential election is seen by many as a repeat of the bitter presidential battle of 2014, wherein Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Prabowo Subianto went head-to-head.

Seeking a second term, 57-year-old Jokowi has picked Ma'ruf Amin (75), chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), as his partner, while retired general Prabowo Subianto (67) has chosen Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno (49), a successful entrepreneur and former deputy governor of Jakarta, as his running mate.

Of its total population of 260 million, over 192 million people in Indonesia have been registered as illegible voters.

ANTARA