KPU to Evaluate Presidential Election Debate Format

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Presidential candidates for the 2019 general election Joko Widodo (second left foreground) and Prabowo Subianto (second right), accompanied by their respective vice-presidential candidates Ma’ruf Amin (far left, foreground) and Sandiaga Uno (far right), share a light moment after participating in the first debate at Bidakara Hotel, Jakarta, Thursday (17/01/2019). The theme of the debate was law, human rights, corruption and terrorism.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS -- The General Elections Commission (KPU) has said it will evaluate the current format of the presidential election debates in the wake of public suggestions following the first one on Thursday.

The KPU said it would discuss the possibility of revising the format, which currently provides “clues” to candidates.

It has received suggestions on technical and other matters from stakeholders. Among the suggestions, for instance, is that candidates should not be provided with clues to what the debate questions will be. Furthermore, there has been criticism about the limited time given to candidates to answer the questions.

KPU chairman Arief Budiman said in Jakarta on Friday that the input, criticism and show of support following the first debate were appreciated, adding that the KPU would evaluate the first debate and prepare for the second one.

The second round of the 2019 presidential election debate is scheduled for February 17 and will only involve presidential candidates. The debate’s topics will include energy and food, natural resources, the environment and infrastructure. “The debate format may change. It all depends on our evaluation,” Arief said.

According to him, the KPU hoped that the debates would achieve their main goal, namely helping voters find out more about the candidates’ vision and mission statements.

“Things like the debate’s methodology and duration are just technicalities. The main goal itself must be achieved,” Arief said.

Input from campaign teams

The first debate, which aired topics ranging from law, corruption and human rights to terrorism, was held in Jakarta on Thursday evening. The two candidate pairs, Joko Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno, participated in the six-segment debate.

Political, corruption and human rights observers said no fresh ideas were espoused in the candidates’ programs during the debate. Despite law enforcement and corruption eradication dominating the debate, no detailed and well-elaborated ideas were stated, according to Kompas.

Judiciary watchdog Ko DeInisiatif chairperson Veri Junaidi said the debate had been monotonous and had not delved deep enough into the candidates’ vision, mission and programs. “First was the clues provided to the candidates. Second, is that there were too many questions. Third, is that the question segment for experts and candidates were separated. No narrative was built and both candidate pairs could not elaborate on their answers,” Veri said.

The campaign team of both candidate pairs has requested that the KPU change the format of the remaining four presidential debates.

Jokowi-Ma’ruf national campaign team program director Aria Bima said an internal evaluation had found that Jokowi and Ma’ruf only delivered 20 percent of the debate material prepared by the team. He added that time was too limited for the candidates to explain their ideas and mission statements and, therefore, detailed action programs could not be included. Detailed explanations on the debate\'s topics were instead found in reviews and campaign team spokespersons’ comments after the debate.

Aria said future debates should be extended so that the candidates have ample time to deliver their ideas more comprehensively.

Prabowo-Sandiaga national campaign team debate director Sudirman Said echoed Aria’s sentiments. He said he believed that the candidates needed more time to deliver their ideas, adding that, ideally, each one should be given three to five minutes to talk about one topic. In the first debate, each candidate was only given two minutes.

Apart from time constraints, both campaign teams also criticized the KPU’s decision to provide clues to debate questions. This is despite the fact that both camps agreed to this prior to the debate.

Aria said the debate on Thursday had been too tense and stiff, adding that, in future debates, candidates should not be given any clues. “If candidates already know what the questions are, the debate may become less dynamic.”

Sudirman said the provision of clues to candidates before the debate on Thursday had lessened the candidates’ spontaneity and authenticity. “We have to remember that problems in managing affairs of state happen at any time. No clues will be given to what’s going to happen.” (REK/AGE/LAS/INK)