Indonesian Candidate Leaks a Fondness for Repetition

Two Indonesian presidential candidates Prabowo Subianto (L) and Joko Widodo (R) smile after the conclusion of the third presidential debate tackling foreign policy and national defense issues on June 22 in Jakarta.
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Analysts say no clear victor emerged in Sunday’s night presidential debate in Indonesia. But few would disagree that Prabowo Subianto triumphed in one unexpected category – repetition.
The former army general used the word “bocor,” a term not typically found in the political lexicon, nearly a dozen times during the two-hour televised debate, sparking much reaction from twitterati.
The word means leak, and Mr. Subianto used it to convey the problem of Indonesia losing state revenue through the export of its many natural resources.
He first embraced the term “bocor” a week ago to describe the problem of lost revenue in a debate focused on the economy, drawing many puzzled looks.
By repeating the word so many times on Sunday night, however, he appeared to be claiming it as part of his nationalistic campaign mantra.

 

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