Presidential candidates seek public debate rules

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta

Presidential candidates have expressed their support for a public debate ahead of the election to present their political platforms, and have called for detailed rules regarding the structure and topics of the discourse.

Respective campaign team officials announced on Friday the readiness of candidates to take part in the public debate, an unprecedented event in Indonesian politics.

Sabam Sirait, a senior politician campaigning for Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) presidential aspirant Megawati Soekarnoputri, said Megawati had expressed her interest in participating in such a debate.

"The most important thing is that the public debate is well organized. It must be hosted by a non-partisan group," he said.

He added that detailed rules on the debate were needed to ensure the forum would not backfire on the country's maturing democracy.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) is drafting a decree on public debate for presidential candidates, but will not make it compulsory.

Sabam, however, was unsure whether Megawati could fulfill all invitations to various debates, given her tight schedule as party leader and incumbent President.

Megawati has often been criticized for her poor communication skills, particularly in remaining silent on pertinent issues and current events.

Citing as example the official announcement of the Megawati- Hasyim Muzadi pairing, Sabam said Megawati always took queries from journalists and gave responses.

"Megawati has been prepared for a public debate from the beginning," he averred.

M. Hatta, a campaigner of the Golkar Party's presidential candidate Wiranto, agreed that the public debate should be well- structured and attended by a broad, representative audience.

"The audience must be the general public, not only the supporters of the candidates," he said.

Separately, Nurhadi Musawir, who will campaign for National Mandate Party (PAN) candidate Amien Rais, said a public debate would help the people to assess the quality of presidential hopefuls.

Presidential Election Law No. 23/2003 does not specifically regulate public debate, and only states in Article 36 that campaigns can be conducted through a public debate or a debate among presidential candidates.

Article 38 of the law underlines that during campaigns, a candidate is not allowed to humiliate other people, religions, tribes, races, groups or other presidential candidates and their running mates.

Separately, political analyst and Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) senior researcher Indria Samego said a public debate would help voters understand the platform, vision and mission of each aspirant.

"This will be the first time that our nation holds a direct presidential election, so all candidates must introduce themselves. A public debate is a means of political communication," he said.

Sabam suggested that the KPU issue a guideline or regulation to ensure that the debate runs peacefully.

"There must be a regulation as to whether the audience is allowed to raise questions during the debate, for example, about the wealth or other private matters of a candidate," Sabam said.

He added that a regulation would prevent the debate from sparking a national issue.

The election campaign will run from June 1 to June 30, with the polls set for July 5. Campaign rules -- Page 2