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Presidential debates round 1: Who are the moderators?
Here are the brief profiles of Ira Koesno and Imam Priyono, the moderators of the first round of the 2019 presidential debates.
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National embrace: A mural depicts 2019 presidential candidates Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (left) and rival Prabowo Subianto entwined with the red-and-white national flag. (The Jakarta Post/Maksum Nur Fauzan)
I
ra Koesno and Imam Priyono have been appointed as the moderators of the first round of the 2019 presidential debates on Jan. 17, which is to focus on law, human rights, terrorism and corruption.
A well-known broadcaster in the 1990s, Ira is deemed to have successfully moderated the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial debate between candidate pairs Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno and Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat.
Graduating from the University of Indonesia economics school, she obtained a Master of Arts in film and television production at the University of Bristol in 2000, and a Master of Arts in international journalism at Westminster University in 2001.
Before beginning her career as a news anchor at SCTV, a privately owned national television station, Ira worked as an accountant at a public accountancy firm in Jakarta.
During her broadcasting career, she received the prestigious Panasonic Gobel Award three times: for Favorite Female Anchor in 1998 and 2002, and for Favorite News Presenter in 2003.
After leaving SCTV, Ira established a public relations consultacy, Ira Koesno Communication, which provides integrated communication strategy services.
Her partner moderator in the first debate round, Imam Priyono, is a news anchor at state-owned public broadcaster Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) who started his journalism career in 2010 as a Presidential Palace correspondent.
Imam was awarded 2016 Best News Presenter by The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission. He was a moderator in the gubernatorial debates before South Sulawesi, Bali and North Sumatra gubernatorial elections. (ggq)
