'Direct debate in runoff would enlightens voters'
M. Taufiqurrahman and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The absence of a direct debate between presidential candidates in the runoff election will deprive the electorate of a valuable mechanism through which they can determine the better candidate for the country's top job, an analyst has said.
Mass communications expert Efendy Ghazali from the University Indonesia said on Tuesday that a direct debate between presidential candidates constituted a form of political education and was believed to be able to affect voter preference with regard to the candidates.
"Experience from developed countries tells us that a presidential debate like that could increase the knowledge of over 30 percent of voters on candidates. It is such a shame that we won't have such a debate. This is a major setback, as we had one before in the first round of the election," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said that a debate would enable voters to assess which candidate could deliver more focused policies to deal with the country's problems.
Efendy said that although the debate would initially influence middle-class voters, he believed that, over time, less-educated sectors of the electorate would appreciate the benefit of having a debate face-off.
"We must realize that democracy is a long and tortuous path and maturity in democracy will only be achieved after a long period: A presidential debate would be a good start," he said.
He said the Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi camp should not be hesitant to appear in the debate, as its presence alone could attract support from the electorate.
"Megawati's willingness to appear in the first presidential debate substantially improved her stature. Megawati would gain more benefit if she agreed to participate in the debate in the election runoff," he said.
The Megawati-Hasyim camp balked at the idea of a debate, arguing that the ticket was only playing by the rules that had been established by the General Elections Commission (KPU).
The KPU has stated that in the three-day campaign for the runoff, no debates will be held between the Megawati-Hasyim and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla camps.
Contacted separately, the Megawati-Hasyim camp defended its decision to eschew the debate, saying that it would neither benefit nor educate the electorate.
Mega Center spokeswoman Irma Hutabarat said that the country was in need of a leader of quality, not one who had a knack for debating.
"There is no benefit from that kind of debate; based on previous experience it will simply mislead people as they will vote on the basis of a candidate's appearance, not on their quality," Irma told the Post.
She said the Megawati-Hasyim team might reconsider its decision not to take part in the debate if it were set up differently, with a series of forums for the candidates to address one issue at a time.
"We cannot just copy the format that we have seen used in the United States, as that would not be compatible with the political maturity of our voters," she said.
An analyst from Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicated, Soekardi Rinakit, shared Irma's view, saying that a debate would be of little use in influencing voters.
"Voters will have made up their minds long before election day," he told the Post.