"I will instruct and emphasize that there should not be any case of discrimination against any tribe, religion, and ethnicity by law enforcement officers. Those officers are under the supervision of the government chief executive, and I will fire those who discriminate against people," Prabowo said during the first presidential debate held by the General Elections Commission (KPU) at the Bidakara Hotel in Jakarta on Thursday night.
He made the remarks to answer a question about human rights issue regarding the strategy to address acts of discrimination and persecution.
He argued that a president must be firm in responding to the acts of discrimination and persecution since the president is the highest executive in the nation state system.
The first round of the 2019 presidential debate carried the theme of Law, Human Rights, Corruption, and Terrorism. This debate is one of the five presidential debates to be carried out based on Law No.7 of 2017 concerning Elections. The law mandated the presidential debate to be widely broadcast to the people of Indonesia.
The 2019 presidential election is a rematch for both Indonesian presidential candidates, Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, who had previously competed in the 2014 presidential election.
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Azizah Fitriyanti
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
