Bureaucratic reform was among three topics debated at Bidakara Hotel in South Jakarta.

Agus, who has paired up with former long-time Jakarta bureaucrat Sylviana Murni, said improving the bureaucracy had to be conducted with "heart because [city officials] are human".

The ticket criticized one of Ahok's policies, saying it made it too easy to fire civil servants deemed poor performers by the tough-talking Ahok, who is running for reelection with incumbent Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat.

Three Jakarta governor-deputy governor candidate pairs, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat, and Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno stand at the stage during the second official debate at the Bidakara Hotel, South Jakarta, on Friday.(The Jakarta Post/Donny Fernando)

If elected, Agus claims he would not let political interests sway the promotion of high-ranking officials. 

"I will adopt what I know when serving in the military, that upholding the merit system is needed to improve the capacity [of people]," Agus said, adding that he would use a performance indicator as a gauge for bureaucratic reform. 

(Read also: All candidates improved their performance during debate: Observer)

Meanwhile, Anies, a former education and culture minister, argued that Ahok's approach to paying higher salaries to civil servants to prevent them from committing corruption was "not enough", because the most important thing  was "to motivate" them.

Ahok defended himself by saying that many public officials had thanked him for the higher salaries they received.

Defending his running mate, Djarot said, "we are very patient with our civil servants in ensuring they are not corrupt."

"The fired ones were recalcitrant officials," he said. (bbs)