Presidential election candidates exploit ethnic roots to win voters in Indonesia

Producer: Melanie Yip
First broadcast: 16 June 04, Radio Singapore International

Candidates vying for the top post in the upcoming Indonesian Presidential elections are turning to their ethnic roots to appeal to voters.

Besides poaching on the issue of improved welfare, the ethnic root appeal is a popular move for some candidates like incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

So how does the ethnic appeal help in gaining support for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the upcoming elections?

Melanie Yip put the question to Dr. Damien Kingsbury (DK), Senior Lecturer in International Development Studies at Deakin University in Australia.

DK: The three leading contenders can each appeal to a very large potential support base, if they can attract an ethnic vote. Incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Gen. Wiranto are all Javanese, although Megawati can make appeal to the Balinese as well because she is 1/4 Balinese. Being able to appeal to the Javanese is extremely important because they comprise about 120-130 million of Indonesia's current population, and that is about 50%. And that is the major voting group in the country.

But how will the ethnic factor appeal to the general public in Indonesia?

DK: I think most people will vote according to their preferences for each candidate. And given that the three leading candidates will be appealing to a similar base, I'm not sure it will necessarily be a vote winner in its own right. But none of them can afford to not appeal to the Javanese population. The really interesting thing would be how people in the outer islands react to this and in part, this has been addressed through some of the vice-presidential candidates, and directs the way the political party missionary is working in the provinces.

But by using the ethnic factor as a draw in the election campaign, it may isolate prospective voters from other ethnic groups? What are your views on this?

DK: That's quite possible. For example, if Gen Wiranto were to appeal to his central Javanese roots, he might well draw support from the Javanese. He might risks losing support from Sulawesi, Sumatara. Hvaing said that, Golkar as a political organization, which is the party Wiranto represents, has a strong regional structure and can probably assuage some of the concerns that might be raised about this. So they might say, "Yes, it is appealing to the Javanese heartland, we can still offer some solutions to other problems, something by way of patronage, promises of jobs and funding of projects. Now, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono does not have that party machinery behind him, so he can't do that. Megawati, being the President, does grant her some constitutional clout, so she can. But it's yet to be seen how it is going to play out because Golkar is much stronger than Megawati's PDI-P in the provinces.

Okay, besides using the ethnic sentiments as a political strategy. On the issue of development. Some candidates have promised to solve the imbalance of development between the Eastern and Western regions in Indonesia. What do some of these development balances refer to?

DK: Basically, each of the candidate recognize that they have to put forward something that resembles a policy because in Indonesia, politics have been notorious for its lack of policies to date. And they've talked about increasing employment, addressing the imbalance between the Eastern and Western islands of the country. Having said that, none of the candidates have laid out any specific plans to achieve of these policy goals. And at this stage, it looks pretty much like rhetoric, it looks like it can appeal to different franchises in Eastern Indonesia like Sulawesi and Kalimantan. However, it would be difficult to see them implementing anything in practice. Voters can at times be gullible. But I think that voters do realize that without some substance, these proposed policies actually don't mean very much.