Candidates polish up to look good on screen

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta

In the run-up to the 30-day presidential campaign, television viewers were given the rare opportunity to watch presidential candidates try to outwit one another in a series of televised debates and special programs outlining their respective platforms.

During the programs, candidates also took questions from the audience that sometimes touched on sensitive issues.

In what in many ways was an unprecedented development, some presidential candidates fielded questions from audience members that were tough and sometimes personal.

Candidate Hamzah Haz, for example, was asked by a female student during a recorded program, "How many wives do you have sir". The current vice president appeared indecisive and indirectly replied that he had two wives. However, Hamzah is said to have four wives.

In another program, TV panelists were given the microphone and proceeded to criticize some of the candidates' campaign themes, such as shooting corruptors.

However, what appeared on the television screen often belied what went on behind the scenes.

The debates were in fact well staged by the television stations, at times with help from the campaign teams of the respective presidential candidates.

A debate organizer at Trans TV said she had to send lists of questions for screening by the presidential candidates before the debates were taped.

"They apparently did not want to have difficult questions sprung on them," she told The Jakarta Post.

However, she said not all of the candidates imposed such conditions.

"As far as I am concerned, only Wiranto imposed tough conditions. A member of his campaign team even asked us to scrap questions from Munir," she said, referring to a noted human rights activist and a staunch critic of the Indonesian Military.

She added that members of Wiranto's campaign team also intervened in the editing of the taped debate.

Wiranto's camp also reportedly disapproved of the inclusion of sociologist Imam Prasodjo as a panelist at a talk show organized by RCTI. Wiranto denied that he made such a request regarding the vocal scholar.

Aside from the demands of the Wiranto team, Trans TV apparently did not have any problems staging the debates.

In collaboration with a number of state universities across Java, the television station was able to present a lively series of presidential debates.

Rosiana Silalahi of SCTV said conditions imposed by the candidates would not compromise her station's commitment to portraying them as they are.

"Before deciding whether or not to attend the presidential debate, the candidates usually ask us such questions as whether it will be live or recorded and who will be sitting on the panel," she told the Post.

Rosiana said that none of presidential candidates or their campaign teams were allowed to interfere in the editing of the debates.

"We have to give equal treatment to all candidates. Once we let one candidate take part in the editing, we would have to give other candidates the same opportunity. We have decided not to give any of them this opportunity, and they understood that," she said.

Rosiana, who is also the anchorwoman for the news program Liputan 6, said most of the candidates were very careful about preparing for the debates to avoid being portrayed as incapable of holding the presidency.

"You have to be careful too, when reporters interviewing you are from newspapers with huge readerships," she said.

She said the televised debates and other election-related news programs fared well.

"In terms of ratings, the number of viewers can be considered high."