Presidential candidates seek public debate rules

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