People watch the first debate between candidate pairs for the Indonesian president and vice president for the 2019-2014 period outside Bidakara Hotel, Jakarta, where the presidential candidate debate was held on Thursday (17/01/2019).
Behind all the answers, comments and “theatrics” of Joko Widodo, Ma’ruf Amin, Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno in round one of the 2019 presidential debates, backstage staff were standing by. They were there to whisper suggestions and guidance, or merely to boost the candidates’ spirits with their smiles.
Just 5 minutes prior to the debate on Thursday evening (1/17/2019) at Jakarta’s Bidakara Hotel, vice presidential candidate Sandiaga Uno had a serious countenance as he silently reviewed his vision and mission statements backstage. Beside him, Prabowo was listening to a suggestion from his debate team, nodding occasionally in agreement.
“Just relax,” the debate team staffer told Prabowo and Sandiaga, who smiled and nodded in response.
In a separate area, vice presidential candidate Ma’ruf Amin nodded while listening to Judika’s “Zamrud Khatulistiwa” (Emerald of the equator). Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was also enjoying the song, at times breaking into a broad grin.
NET.Mediatama Televisi founder and CEO Wishnutama Kusubandio was observed giving directions to Jokowi and Ma’ruf.
Wishnutama was standing by backstage throughout the debate to assist Jokowi and Ma’ruf, as were Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, Jokowi-Ma’ruf national campaign staffer Rizal Mallarangeng and several prominent broadcasting professionals, including Riza Primadi and Tina Talisa.
Several top Gerindra executives were also backstage to watch the debate, including Gerindra deputy chair Sugiono, who sat with a group of youths and watched the debate on a monitor. During breaks, they immediately got up to approach Prabowo and Sandiaga on stage.
In addition to providing input and directions, the team of “whisperers” and supporters was also there to boost their candidates’ spirits. During the first break, for instance, the Jokowi-Ma’ruf side of the stage filled with campaign staff congratulating them on their performance, with very few critiques. Instead, the candidates and their campaign staff spent the time joking and praising each other’s performance.
The group cheered on Ma’ruf, who would next speak on the pair’s terrorism eradication program. “You can do this, Abah. You can do this,” several campaign staffers said, addressing Ma’ruf with the honorific “Uncle”.
Despite the freedom the candidates had to do as they pleased during the breaks, little interaction occurred between Jokowi-Ma’ruf and Prabowo-Sandiaga. Instead, the candidates were busy discussing the debate topics or their performances with their own campaign staff.
Important role
The campaign and debate staff played a prominent role in ensuring that their candidates delivered good performances on Thursday evening.
Executive manager Gammara Lenggo Geni of co-organizer Kompas TV said the teams were on constant standby to meet the candidates’ every request.
Kompas TV was responsible for providing adequate room for the candidates in accordance with the pre-event agreement. The campaign teams were responsible for their candidates’ needs.
Each pair was provided with a green room, located in the eastern end of the hotel’s Birawa Hall, the debate venue.
The two green rooms were separated by a first aid room, equipped only with a row of chairs and glasses of water.
Meanwhile, a 9-square-meter room backstage was provided as a rest area for the candidates use during breaks.
The rooms were assigned by drawing lots. “Drawing lots ensures fairness, so that both candidate pairs can accept the results,” said Kompas TV senior producer Zaki Amrullah.
It is expected that the debate on Thursday evening will provide input for voters ahead of the election on April 17, 2019. (AGE/E06/E08/MTK/SAN)
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