Andika, a former Indonesian Military commander, and Hendi, who currently heads the National Procurement Agency (LKPP) and served as Semarang mayor in 2016-2021 and 2021-2022, are backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Luthfi, a former Central Java Police chief, and Taj Yasin, a former Central Java deputy governor who served in 2018-2023, are backed by an alliance of 12 political parties including the Golkar Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Gerindra Party.

“The first debate is on Oct. 26, so we have made our preparations,” Andika said on Monday at his campaign office in Pandanaran, Semarang, as quoted by kompas.com.

“The first [gubernatorial] debate in Jakarta is also our reference. We will study it and prepare, yes. The point is, we will try to prepare [our] best,” he added.

Andika-Hendi also have the support of their campaign head Umar Wahid Hasyim, a prominent figure in Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization in both the country and the world.

The Central Java General Elections Commission (KPU) has scheduled two other debates on Nov. 10 and 20, with all three debates to be held in the provincial capital Semarang.

Details regarding the debates’ venue, topics and panelists are still being finalized.

“[We are] Still awaiting coordination with service providers and candidate pairs," Central Java KPU chair Handi Tri Ujiono said on Monday, as quoted by tempo.co.

Andika expressed confidence about the upcoming debate as well as optimism for his campaign, though Luthfi-Yasin currently leads opinion surveys, saying he believed he and Hendi would close the gap and overtake their opponents by election day on Nov. 27.

"Yes, optimism must be there from the beginning. Even when we didn't know the results of the initial survey we were optimistic, and even [after] the survey had come out, we still consider it a challenge," he said.