TIMES AUSTRALIA, JAKARTA – In the midst of the spirited atmosphere surrounding the 2024 Indonesian election, the Indonesian Students Association in Germany (PPI Jerman) has organized a candidate debate forum. The organization aims to provide a platform for critiques and aspirations from supporters of the presidential candidates, emphasizing a vision for a more innovative, just, equitable, and inclusive Indonesia. 

Centered around the theme of "Regional Development and Spatial Planning," the forum brought together expert teams representing the presidential candidates for the 2024-2029 term. The debate aimed to create a vital stage for the exchange of ideas and evaluations concerning national development, contributing significantly to the nation's progress. 

Agnia Dewi Larasati, the Chairperson of PPI Jerman, highlighted the positive impact of development on national economic growth, particularly driven by regional initiatives. The forum also included political and civic education, crucial for Indonesian students in Germany who are distanced from their homeland, reflecting an effort to cultivate strong political awareness among the diaspora. 

PPI Jerman carefully selected compact debate topics and formats, serving as instruments to sift through the candidates' ideas, ensuring responses were not merely normative. The platform provided an opportunity for the candidate teams to address crucial issues, including fiscal decentralization, innovation in regional development planning, and the management of future cities. 

During discussions on regional development planning, Prof. Sulfikar Amir criticized the central government's inability to provide maximum opportunities for local governments to autonomously implement development projects. He particularly scrutinized top-down strategic projects completed without the involvement of local governments and surrounding communities, emphasizing the importance of local engagement in every step of development. 

With hopes that the Spatial Planning Detailed Plan (RDTR) could be redesigned from scratch in 2025, this perspective creates opportunities to synchronize National Medium-Term Development Plans (RPJMN) and Regional Medium-Term Development Plans (RPJMD) within a single period, establishing a stronger foundation for spatial planning across regions. 

Michael Victor Sianipar concluded the forum by highlighting agrarian conflicts in the plantation and mining sectors, urging the need for agrarian reform that not only legalizes land ownership but also encourages land redistribution. This underlines the necessity for policies involving communities more equitably in natural resource management. 

With over 100 Indonesian students and diaspora residing in Germany participating, PPI Jerman's initiated forum successfully fostered a dialogic atmosphere, promoting interaction across generations to formulate their ideas and aspirations. (*)