Indonesia: No more cheat sheets in election debates

• Indonesia’s General Elections Commission (KPU) has decided not to provide the presidential candidates with a list of question before the next election debates, after public criticism of the first contest, which took place on 17 Jan 19.
• KPU commissioner Pramono Ubaid Tanthowi said the decision was made after an evaluation of the first debate. He said the KPU took public opinion, especially from civil society groups, into account when it made its decision.
• The decision was made during a meeting to evaluate the first debate and to make improvements in the following debates, which will be held once a month until the election on 17 Apr 19.
• Despite the cheat sheet, the candidates traded barbs and sometimes got quite heated in the debate moderated by news presenters Ira Koesno and Imam Priyono.
• The concerns of a potentially uninteresting debate had been expressed by several experts prior to the debate, but in its defence, the KPU said that the hints were provided to allow candidates to present ideas clearly and comprehensively.
• KPU commissioner Pramono said previously in a statement that the debate should be more about presenting ideas than political theatre.
• The second debate is slated for 17 Feb 19 and will have energy, food, natural resources, environment and infrastructure as the topics. Only Mr Joko and Mr Prabowo will face off in the second debate. The third one will be on 17 Mar 19 and only the running mates will participate, to debate education, health, manpower and social and cultural topics.
• The fourth and fifth debates will have all four on the stage to talk about ideology, government, defence and security and international relations on 30 Mar 19, and economy, social welfare, finance and investment and trade and industry. The time for the fifth debate has not been decided.

External Link: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/no-more-cheat-sheets-for-indonesia-presidential-candidates-jokowi-and-prabowo-at

External Link: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/01/20/one-down-four-more-debates-for-jokowi-maruf-vs-prabowo-sandiaga.html