Candidates to be ‘all out’, ‘surprise’ for last-round debate

Erwida Maulia and Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 07/02/2009 12:16 PM  |  Presidential Election

Former President Megawati Soekarnoputri will go “all out”, Vice President Jusuf Kalla is preparing a “surprise”, while incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono — believed to be “superior” to his two contenders — has not specially prepared for the last round presidential/vice presidential debate to be broadcast Thursday night.

From five debate sessions, three are allocated to presidential candidates while the remaining two are for their running mates.

Campaign team member for Megawati-Prabowo Subianto, Ganjar Pranowo, said the team had as usual formed a special discussion group serving as Megawati's sparring partners to help her perform better in tonight’s debate.

“This group will help her look forward to the best way to answer questions thrown by the moderator,” Ganjar told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He also said the team had suggested how Megawati could better explain her visions and missions and speak more clearly in order to make  the people “understand” that her programs — if elected — were better than those offered by the other candidates.

From Kalla’s camp, Poempida Hidayatullah refused to comment further but said the incumbent vice president had “mature preparation” for the third and last round of the presidential debate.

“I can only say that he has had fairly mature preparation, and there will be a surprise. Just wait for tomorrow."

Deputy chairman of Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, Anas Urbaningrum, said the incumbent had not specially prepared for the last round debate because he had already mastered the topic.

“SBY is of course preparing for the debate, but has no special preparation for that.

"Not only has he mastered the topic, he already has clear action programs on regional autonomy and democratization.

"SBY, we believe, is superior to the other candidates."

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