REPRESENTING THE INCUMBENT AND THE CONTENDER IN THE 2019 INDONESIAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES

Abstract

Background and Purpose: The 2019 Indonesian presidential debates were an important part of the presidential election because it drew public interest, enabling the candidates to persuade the electorate. The debates reunited Joko Widodo, the incumbent and Prabowo Subianto, his former contender.   Methodology: The article selected the five debates during the 2019 presidential debates. The debates were analyzed with Transitivity from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), studying how process, participant and circumstance represent the presidential candidates.   Findings: The incumbent and contender, although from different parties, share similarities in their Transitivity patterns. Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto frequently employ Material, Relational and Mental processes to state their actions for governing Indonesia, describe present or future plans, and share their thoughts and hopes for the country. Being politicians, the incumbent and contender use language to construe themselves as the most suitable person to be president. The two candidates employ the pronoun ‘we’ to depict themselves as part of a group, be it a political party or the electorate. They also employ the pronoun ‘I’ to showcase their personal capability. The two candidates share patterns of Transitivity because their representation tries to persuade the electorate to vote for them.   Contributions: The present article extends research on political discourse because it studies data from Indonesia and data in the Indonesian language. The findings can serve to educate the electorate on how politicians employ language in persuasion.   Keywords: Debates, elections, Indonesia, president, transitivity.   Cite as: Fidyati, L., & Rajandran, K. (2020). Representing the incumbent and the contender in the 2019 Indonesian presidential debates. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 5(2), 215-238. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss2pp215-238