（Photo: General Elections Commission of Indonesia)
Indonesia’s presidential election held its fourth debate last Sunday (Jan. 21), where vice-presidential candidates from the National Democratic Party, the Great Indonesia Movement Party, and the Democratic Struggle Party engaged in heated discussions regarding sustainable development, energy, and agriculture issues. Analysts suggest that the candidates focused more on theatrics and attacking each other, leading to a lack of substantial policy disclosure during the debate.
The opening remarks started from Muhaimin Iskandar, the vice-presidential candidate of the National Democratic Part (Nasional Demokrat, NasDem). He firstly criticized President Jokowi’s “food estate” project and accused the government of inadequately addressing the climate crisis. Took the national budget as an example, he highlighted the disproportionately low allocation for climate-related funds compared to other projects, resulting in a decrease in the share of new and renewable energy (EBT) to 17%. Muhaimin did not rule out the possibility of implementing a carbon tax, but also prioritizing energy transition.
