KPU says VP candidate debate far better

JAKARTA: An evaluation performed Wednesday by the General Elections Commission on the vice presidential debate, revealed it was far better than the presidential debate held earlier last week, commission member I Gusti Putu Artha said.

Putu Artha, however, did not go into detail about which aspects of Tuesday's debate outdid the former.

The evaluation meeting, attended by national campaign teams for each candidate, the moderator for the next presidential debate, economist from the Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance --Aviliani, and the presidential security force, reached a decision to improve some technical aspects in order to heat up the debate, aside from accommodating the many criticism received by the commission regarding its quality.

"We want it to be even better. The format will not change, but the technical features will," he said after the evaluation meeting in the commission office, kompas.com reported.

Among those changes, one of the most interesting might be that the moderator and candidates in the next debate will be able to move around and communicate with the audience to make the show more interactive.

The next debate, Putu Artha said, will also make use of time left in the opening statement session allowing the moderator to ask more questions.

"If there is time left, the moderator will be permitted to fire more questions at the candidates, they do not have to limit their questions to only three," he said.

The commission will also make sure the next debate has a better commercial schedule strategy. (adh)