Fikri Arigi, Syafiul Hadi, Jakarta – The General Elections Committee (KPU) announced that presidential and vice presidential candidates of the upcoming electoral debate expected to be held this month will be handed the list of questions prior to the event.

KPU Chairman Arief Budiman explained that the committee's reasoning is to better prepare the candidates which would hopefully have all of them answer each question in detail and thorough.

"It is to enable them to answer the questions in detail. Debates are a campaign method and is meant to accomplish the core of the campaign itself," said Arief at the Hotel Mandarin Oriental in Jakarta on Saturday, January 5.

Another KPU official maintained that the essence of the presidential debate is not just a show but rather to accommodate candidates with a forum where they can comprehensively deliver their vision.

KPU's decision attracted several responses from the Jokowi-Ma'ruf campaign team secretary Hasto Kristiyanto who agreed with the committee's decision. Hasto argues that every question from the panelists must be responded thoroughly.

Meanwhile, VP candidate Sandiaga Uno personally sides with the decision of the KPU since it would prevent each candidate from needlessly attacking each other and create a debate stage where the public can witness the debate and not liken it to generic trivia shows or other TV quizzes.

However, contrasting opinions came from the Network for Democracy and Electoral Integrity (Netgrit) executive director Sigit Pamungkas and Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) director Titi Anggraini. Both Sigit and Titi question the decision taken by the KPU.

"I think it's weird that the candidates are handed the questions in advance prior to a debate. A debate should authentically emerge in the debate process itself," said Sigit who was backed by Titi in terms of a presidential candidate's authenticity.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1162252/questions-given-in-advance-in-presidential-debate-says-kpu