Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, second from right, holds hands with top members of his coalition party at a rally in Jakarta on Friday. Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, second from right, holds hands with top members of his coalition party at a rally in Jakarta on Friday. Photo: AP
The strongman candidate for Indonesia’s presidency, Prabowo Subianto, has established a “very good” relationship with the Australian government by partly promising to be “very tough” on asylum seekers and people smugglers, Mr Prabowo’s brother said on Saturday.
Tensions are rising between Mr Prabowo and his rival, Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, as each side continues to claim that they are winning the “real count”.
Mr Prabowo’s brother and campaign manager Hashim Djojohadikusumo said “My brother and Tony Abbott have traded letters,” and that he had held meetings with the Australian foreign minister.
Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto. Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto. Photo: AFP
“Julie Bishop has had meetings with Prabowo, and has a good relationship.
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“Prabowo … will be very tough on people trafficking … Prabowo has had lunch with Greg Moriarty, your ambassador. I would characterise the relationship Prabowo has had with the Australian government as being better than the relationship [between] the current [Indonesian] government [led by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] and the Australian government, and I think you can check ambassador Moriarty on that.”
In later comments, Mr Hashim again raised the subject of people smuggling in the context of the relationship, saying that a Prabowo government would crack down on “people from Afghanistan, Iraq, trying to get to Australia”.
The passage of asylum seekers through Indonesia to Australia has long been an irritant in the relationship between the two countries, and many on the right of politics in Australia believe Indonesia does not do enough to stop it.
It is unclear if any such discussions on the subject have been held between Mr Joko and Australia, but in one presidential debate, Mr Joko said he thought Australia viewed Indonesia as being “weak”.
With both sides claiming victory and 10 days to go before an official result is announced, tensions are rising.
Mr Prabowo openly denounced Mr Joko for the first time on Friday night, saying in a BBC interview: “I think my rival is a product of a PR campaign … a tool of the oligarchs … He’s not a man of the people. He claims to be humble, but that’s just an act.”
Of the “quick count” poll results, most of which said with a small margin of error that Mr Joko would win the election, Mr Prabowo said they were part of a “grand design” to manipulate the result.
His camp has promised to refer several pollsters to police for criminal investigations over their “provocative” behaviour in finding Mr Joko ahead.
Mr Hashim said Berhanuddin Muhtadi, the head of polling company Indikator, would be referred for “violations of the law as we see it”, and several other “heads and maybe members of other polling agencies” would also have police reports filed against them.
Prabowo campaign spokesman Fadli Zon said the pollsters had violated the law by indicating that any official result that disagreed with their “quick counts” would suggest that results had been tampered with.
Both sides have warned of the other trying to “steal” the election, involving 130 million ballots, and Dr Yudhoyono warned that the political situation could reach “boiling point” on July 22 when the Election Commission releases its verdict.
After that, the losing side is likely to refer the result to the country’s constitutional court.
Mr Hashim said his side would abide by the court’s decision.
“There is nothing in our game plan that foresees taking to the streets … if there’s no provocation from the other camp, we would not go on the streets”.
Mr Prabowo addressed a rally in the centre of the city in support of Palestine on Friday, and was introduced to the cheering crowd of supporters as “the new president of Indonesia”, before going on to talk about “imperialist powers who always want to see a poor Indonesia”.
In the crowd were members of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), who chanted “Jihad! Jihad!”, though not in response to the declaration. One member was carrying a flag also used by militant group ISIL.
Asked on the BBC what he would do if he lost the election, Mr Prabowo said: “What? I am very confident I will win.”
He added, however, that if “the Indonesian people do not need me”, he would retire to “a quieter life”.
His brother, Mr Hashim, also warned Bill Clinton away from Indonesia, saying it was "not an appropriate time" for a planned visit later this month for the Clinton Global Initiative by the former US president.
"People in Indonesia are concerned that his visit may be used for other purposes ... There is some concern that his visit might be used by the other side for their own purposes," Mr Hashim said.
"He can visit some time after the election is over."