Adianto P Simamora, Jakarta – On Tuesday, the final round of debates between vice presidential candidates ended without any surprises, with only Boediono and Prabowo Subianto exchanging small punches about foreign loans and education.

If in the first debate, Vice President Jusuf Kalla's running mate Wiranto entertained the audience by singing several songs, but this time around he seemed to have failed to grasp the substance of the topic: how to improve people's welfare.

Moderator Fachmi Idris, chairman of the Indonesian Doctor Association (IDI), tried hard to make the show more lively, with all candidates looking clumsy from the outset.

The debate, aired by TVOne on Tuesday, was begun with each candidate required to comment on how well they knew their rivals.

"I know pak Wiranto well... he has actually already reached the peak in his career, but it is likely he still wants to go higher," Boediono, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's partner, said when asked to describe Wiranto.

In delivering his view on the subject, Megawati Soekarnoputri's running mate, Prabowo Subianto, directly criticized the current administration for its failure to fulfil basic needs of the people.

"Many of our people have no access to clean water or other basic needs, so how can improve the quality of people's lives?" he said.

Megawati was the only presidential candidate to attend the debate. "It is also big mistake claims made in ads that all people have enjoyed free educations. There are still many people having no access to education," Prabowo added.

He went on, saying that he and Megawati would clear about 59 million hectares of unused forested land to be allocated to farmers to resolve poverty, with one hectare generating employment for six people.

"We will also request for the rescheduling of foreign debts, so that we can invest in sectors to improve people's welfare as well as education and heath care," he said, directing his criticism toward Boediono for the Indonesia's large foreign debt.

Boediono showed a more calm appearance in the debate, providing details and examples, while questioning if Prabowo's proposal was realistic.

However, Prabowo replied that Boediono's answers were too normative, like "statements from academics or students". "The problem is where would the money would come from?" Prabowo said.

Boediono described Prabowo's claim to be able to generate large amounts of funding by rescheduling foreign debt as simply a big "dream". "We must be realistic with concrete programs," he said.

Meanwhile, Wiranto said the high poverty rate in Indonesia was a reflection of low public welfare. Citing data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Wiranto said there were more than 35 million people living under the poverty line.

"(However) according to data from the World Bank, the total number of people living in poverty is around 100 million," he said.