REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Political elites has been arguing about presidential candidate number 02 Prabowo Subianto statement on the future of Indonesia. The government camp said that Prabowo tended to bring pessimism to the society.

Spokesperson of National Campaign Team of the Indonesian Working Coalition (KIK) Ace Hasan Syadzily said such narration could lead Indonesia to become a backward country. According to Ace, presidential contender should not delivered negativity too often.

"It shows that he does not deserve to be the leader of the country," Ace said on Tuesday (Dec 18).

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief of the Advisory Board of the National Winning Team (BPN) of Prabowo-Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, Hidayat Nur Wahid believed that was not the real meaning of Prabowo's statement. He got the impression that some parties concluded Prabowo wanted Indonesia to vanish if he lost the election.

"I believe that is not what he meant," Hidayat said in Parliament complex, Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday.

So, what did Prabowo actually say? The statement first came when Prabowo delivered his political speech at the Gerindra Party National Conference (Konfernas) at the Sentul International Convention Center (SICC), Bogor, Monday (Dec 17).

Prabowo was insinuating the elite which he considered to have failed to carry out the people's mandate. He said that if this wrong system was continued, it would make Indonesia a weak country and would be potentially extinct.

"If this system continues, it will make Indonesia weak, Indonesia will become poorer, and even more powerless. It can even become extinct," he said in

Prabowo also said that currently Indonesia's wealth was only 1,300 dollars per capita. According to him, it was equivalent to the wealth of the country in West Africa, Burkina Faso.

"We have same level with Rwanda, Afghanistan which still in the war, Chad, Ethiophia, and Haiti that are still in chaotic, and even Burkina Faso which has no sea," he said.

Prabowo admitted that he was sad because everyone who was born had to pay a debt of 600 US dollars due to state debt. According to him, it was inappropriate for a country that has been independent for 70 years, but still experienced poverty.

"This fact was never acknowledged by our political elites. That's why, we have to win the 2019 elections," he said to his supporters.

The Gerindra Party National Conference was attended by a number of figures including PAN Honorary Council Chair Amien Rais, and PAN Secretary General Eddy Soeparno, PKS Secretary General Mustafa Kamal, from Democratic Party Chairperson Syarief Hasan, and Secretary General of the Working Party Priyo Budi Santoso.

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