Jakarta – Media-shy President Megawati Sukarnoputri, trailing in opinion polls weeks before the election, has refused her opponent's offer for a televised debate on issues confronting the world's fourth-largest country, an official said on Tuesday.

Instead, Ms Megawati and retired general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will appear beside each other and answer scripted questions in three television appearances. But they won't be allowed to quiz each other, said election commission spokesman Sinta Satriana.

Since July, the normally reclusive Ms Megawati has been seen more in public and has granted several interviews. But observers say she appears uncomfortable in the spotlight, and critics accuse her of lacking the intellectual heft to confront an opponent in a public debate.

Mr Bambang, who as security minister in Ms Megawati's government regularly sparred with reporters, has urged the incumbent to join a televised debate, Ms Satriana said.

The President is trailing in two recent surveys ahead of the September 20 run-off. She came second in first- round voting in July behind Mr Bambang, who failed to win an overall majority.

Both candidates are secular nationalists, and there is little difference in their stated policies to address the problems facing Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.