JAKARTA: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed satisfaction Friday with the results of the inaugural presidential candidate debate broadcast live Thursday night, despite widespread criticism the debate was inane, dull and lacked substance.

Yudhoyono told participants of the 2009 National Working Meeting of the Association of Retired Civil Servants (PWRI) that he was glad the debate had run well.

"Last night - maybe some of you watched it - the debate ran well, thank God," he said at the Presidential Palace.

"That was in line with the KPU's *General Elections Commission* regulations. In my closing statement, I recited a poem: From Lahat to Martapura, although we debate we remain brothers and sisters."

Yudhoyono, seeking a second five-year term in office, participated in the debate with former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Jusuf Kalla - both also vying for the presidency.

The event was the first of its kind in the country, and was broadcast live by local station TransTV.

The three candidates engaged in a two-and-half-hour debate, but critics called the show flaccid and lacking in any substance, with all three candidates preferring to appear polite, rather than actually debating. - JP

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