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SBY may not attend second Jakarta election debate
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Like father, like son -- Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (center), accompanied by his wife Ani Yudhoyono (right) and their son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, who is running for Jakarta governor, pays his final respects to former Democratic Party chairman Hadi Utomo who passed away recently.
(Kompas.com/Fabian Januarius Kuwado)
F
ormer president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose eldest son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono is currently running in the Jakarta gubernatorial elections, might not attend the second official debate, a campaign team spokesperson said Friday.
"I don’t think Pak SBY [Yudhoyono's nickname] is coming to the debate. [The debate] is purely a time for Agus to clearly demonstrate his ideas and programs," Agus’ camp spokesperson Andi Nurpati told reporters.
Agus and his running mate Sylviana Murni, a former long-time Jakarta bureaucrat, are bracing for the debate on Friday evening at Bidakara Hotel in South Jakarta, along with the other two candidate pairs – Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat and Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno.
(Read also: Agus doesn’t need to change debate style: Annisa Pohan)
Agus is backed by the Democratic Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP).
Analysts have suggested that Democratic Party patron Yudhoyono is attempting to groom Agus – a former major in the Indonesian Military (TNI) – as his political heir by naming him as the Dem's preferred candidate in the Jakarta election slated for Feb. 15.
Asked whether Yudhoyono had provided special training for Agus prior to the second debate, Andi, a Dems politician, responded that Agus had "received enough political capital" from his father. "As a former president who governed the country for 10 years, he [Yudhoyono] has more than enough political experience to share with Agus." (trw)
