Dani Prabowo, Jakarta – Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto says that democracy in Indonesia is still messy and very costly.
Prabowo, who is expected to be the winner of the 2024 presidential election, said that he is still not satisfied with the implantation of democracy in the homeland. Thus he sees that there is a need for improvement to democracy in the future.
"Let me testify that democracy is really very, very exhausting. Democracy is very, very messy, democracy is very, very costly", Prabowo said during a speech in English at the Mandiri Investment Forum that was broadcast online on the Kompas TV YouTube channel on Tuesday March 5.
"And we are still not satisfied with our democracy. There is a lot of room for improvement", he asserted.
Even so, Prabowo also said he appreciated the participation of the Indonesian people in the 2024 elections which reached 80 percent.
According to Prabowo the electoral participation in Indonesia is not bad. Especially when compared to other countries that adhere to a democratic system but where voter participation does not reach 50 percent.
"In our elections, voter participation reached 80 percent. An average of 80 percent. That isn't bad. Bearing in mind many countries, democratic countries, sometimes the turnout is less than 50 percent", he said.
Furthermore, the presidential candidate number 2 alluded to his experience in the 2024 elections, where because of the vast size of Indonesia he could not visit all the existing provinces.
Of the 38 provinces in the country, Prabowo has only been able to visit around 26. However, he promised that after the elections he would visit the rest of the provinces that he has never visited.
"But I still, after this election, I still have to go to and visit those provinces (which I've not yet visited). Because I promised the provinces that I've not been able to visit that I will visit", he added.
- See YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Vqr10Ce1E
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Prabowo: Demokrasi Sangat Berantakan dan Mahal, Ada Banyak Ruang untuk Perbaikan".]
