Presidential candidate Joko Widodo with supporters as he campaigns in West Java.

Presidential candidate Joko Widodo with supporters as he campaigns in West Java. Photo: AFP/Timur Matahari

Bandung: The two leading contenders for next week's Indonesian presidential elections are in sharp disagreement about the future of the young democracy's constitution.

In a speech on Thursday where Joko Widodo outlined his "nine-point plan" for Indonesia, the governor of Jakarta said that if Indonesia abandoned the direct election of the president it would be a "setback", a direct attack on a suggestion by his main opponent, former army strongman Prabowo Subianto.

Mr Joko, who has until now resisted attacking any aspect of Mr Prabowo's program, said he respected the constitution, as amended in 2002.

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Banyumas, Central Java.

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Banyumas, Central Java. Photo: AFP/Idhad Zakaria

"Our reference is the constitution, nothing else," Mr Joko said. "If one wants to go back there [to parliamentary appointment of the president] I think it would be a setback."

Former dictator Suharto showed that the "consensus" system and parliamentary appointment was open to abuse and cronyism. The constitution was changed in 2002 to mandate direct election. Next Wednesday's election is the third under that system.

But earlier this week, Mr Prabowo implicitly attacked the new constitution as a Western import that was out of keeping with Indonesian values, open to corruption and too expensive. His policy is to return to the 1945 constitution, under which both Sukarno and Suharto ruled Indonesia.

While claiming he was a democrat, he said: "Indonesian leaders must gather together and look for a new consensus, how to devise a system that is still democratic, that still represents the will of the people, but that is affordable".

Mr Joko's response came in a press conference as he outlined a populist nine-point plan for Indonesia just two days before the official shutdown of election campaigning.

The plan involves spending on health, education, villages, farmers and poverty alleviation. He singled out his desire to improve the quality of the country's burgeoning number of Islamic boarding schools, pesantren, at which students often receive a little, poor quality general education and a lot of hardline Islam.

Mr Joko has been criticised for his diffident campaigning style and for refusing to outline his program or criticise his opponents. The double-digit lead he once enjoyed in the polls has now all-but evaporated under the onslaught of Mr Prabowo's strong rhetoric. Next Wednesday's election is now likely to be neck-and-neck.

On the polls, Mr Joko said: "I see many surveys and they are all different. For me, whether the gap is just 1 or 2 or 3 per cent, the most important is that we can win."

At the press conference, held in Bandung, campaign manager Anies Baswedan, egged on by Mr Joko, explained that they were ""conducting the press conference today and announcing our programs in order to make it easier for voters to decide".

"The election is six days away. Jokowi and [running mate] Jusuf Kalla offer change," Mr Anies said, then went on to list a series of corruption scandals linked to members of Mr Prabowo's coalition: "Those who want the status quo, who want to continue [the existence of] the beef mafia, the haj mafia, the mud mafia, the oil mafia, Hambalang mafia etc, the choice is clear."

Asked why he was not talking about corruption - the number one drain on the Indonesian economy and society - Mr Joko insisted it was "obvious" that he would fight it.

As president he would "immediately issue a presidential decree on fighting corruption, to speed it up, that's our commitment".

In Indonesia, a presidential decree has almost the status of a law passed by parliament. He has also vowed to massively boost the power and number of investigators in the country's powerful anti-corruption commission.