Presidential candidate Joko “Jokowi” Widodo traded barbs with his rival Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto in a contentious election debate on Thursday night.

Jokowi, who at times appeared agitated, responded to queries from Prabowo, who attacked his record over the past four years, including when the former general lashed out at some of his economic policies.

In the final minutes, it was Prabowo who was on the defensive after Jokowi attacked Gerindra’s stance on corruption and questioned him regarding the lack of female politicians in his party.

The debate beat the expectations of many who believed it would be monotonous as the General Elections Commission (KPU) had decided to give the candidates a list of the questions in advance.

With Jokowi being the incumbent candidate, Prabowo was more aggressive in attacking his rival who beat him in the 2014 presidential election.

On the topic of law enforcement, for instance, Prabowo said law enforcers under Jokowi’s administration were politically biased and unfair, citing a number of regional leaders who were not under scrutiny even after they had openly thrown their support behind Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin.

A village head in Mojokerto, East Java, was sent to jail after he had declared support for him and running mate Sandiaga Uno, Prabowo said, referring to the case as one that “violated human rights”, especially freedom of expression.

“Don’t accuse [us], Pak Prabowo,” Jokowi said in his response to Prabowo’s remarks. “We are a country with rule of law, so there is a legal mechanism that we can adhere to. If there is evidence, just submit it to the [police].”

The incumbent went on to cite the case of Ratna Sarumpaet, a Prabowo supporter whose bruised face initially triggered a political brouhaha in the country, in what seemed to be an attack against a Prabowo camp that had created trivial accusations in the past.

“There was a joint press conference, but it turns out it was just from plastic surgery. There’s no need for comedy,” he said.

Regarding corruption, Jokowi took a direct jab at Prabowo’s commitment to anticorruption commitment while questioning the Gerindra patron’s party for having nominated six former graft convicts as candidates for the legislative election, citing Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) data.

Prabowo defended himself and his party, calling the ICW report “very subjective” and saying that the party was free of corrupt practices.

He added that he would send party members who committed acts of corruption to jail himself. The retired general went on to discuss the law, saying that it allowed former convicts to run in an election after serving their sentences. He said it was up to the people to decide whether to elect them, as certain acts of corruption were perhaps “not that significant”.

Jokowi also questioned Prabowo and Sandiaga on the pair’s consistency in promoting gender through policy, as the incumbent said the executives of Gerindra lacked female representatives.

The retired general admitted to the fact and Jokowi went on to compare his team with his own Cabinet, which comprise nine women who serve in ministerial seats.

In his response, Prabowo criticized the female ministers for issuing policies that he claimed were negative for citizens, adding that Jokowi should not be proud of appointing women if the programs did not serve to benefit the people.

“If this is about gender, we can add more [female representatives] and count the number, but we can debate more about the output,” he said.

Centre for Strategic and International Studies executive director Philips J. Vermonte said Jokowi came out strong.

“It is not typical of him, but it seems that he wanted to show the audience that he is in control,” he said.

The debate also marked the debut appearance of Jokowi’s running mate Ma’ruf, who delivered an underwhelming performance, validating the results of some opinion polls, which say that the presence of the Muslim cleric on the ticket did little to help the incumbent’s campaign.

One of the most memorable moments from the debate was when Ma’ruf ran the clock after Jokowi finished his statement, saying only, “I have nothing to add”.

Sandiaga, a former Jakarta deputy governor who has experience in election debates, appeared confident as he repeatedly talked about the camp’s stance on several topics, including about preventing corrupt practices in the bureaucracy and strengthening counterterrorism measures.