Its apparent indecision and brinkmanship in preparing for the first round of the five election debates has sent a signal of its vulnerability to political pressures and thus incapability of creating a level playing field for all contenders. With public suspicion of election rigging by the government still in the air, the KPU now stands accused of trying to tip the balance in favor of the pro-regime candidates.

The root of the controversy is the question of whether Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the running mate of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and the eldest son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, will take on the more seasoned contenders in the debates. Gibran, a 35-year-old Surakarta mayor with a bachelor’s degree from a Singaporean university, is expected to trade barbs with former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD and National Awakening Party (PKB) leader Muhaimin Iskandar. Mahfud, 66, is a constitutional law professor and currently the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, while Muhaimin, 57, earned his master’s in communication from the University of Indonesia and is a two-time deputy House of Representatives speaker.

Amid high anticipation for a showdown of VP candidates, the KPU announced that it was changing the election format by requiring that all pairs of candidates must attend the entire rounds of debates. This means that there will be no rounds of debate attended by only presidential or VP contenders, as was the case in the previous elections. In short, Prabowo will stand beside Gibran when facing Mahfud and Muhaimin.

The KPU’s decision set off a commotion on social media, as people questioned whether special rounds of debate just for VP candidates would be held at all if the presidential candidates were expected to come on stage and assist their running mates. This triggered speculation that it was changing the debate format to help Gibran.

Gibran’s candidacy is already plagued with controversies. His nomination is legally based on a Constitutional Court ruling that is formally declared unethical, because the court was at the time led by his uncle, Anwar Usman. The court ruled that the 40-year-old age limit for election contenders does not apply to regional heads, in a clear attempt to remove the existing legal barriers for Gibran to contest the election.

While the Prabowo-Gibran camp frames Gibran’s candidacy as an attempt to bring young people to politics, critics have lashed out at his nomination as symptomatic of the entrenched culture of political nepotism in the country. In other words, Gibran is not a symbol of succession from the old to the young, but of crippling dynastic politics.  

The KPU has played down the accusation of favoritism. To clarify the confusion, it asserted that five rounds of debate would be held before voting day, with two of the rounds dedicated to VP candidates. Its commissioners, however, initially gave different statements on the question of whether the presidential candidates would be on stage during the two rounds of debate for VP candidates. One commissioner, for example, insisted that the presidential candidates would be among the audience. 

On Wednesday, the KPU asserted that the presidential candidates would be on stage while their running mates faced off against each other. However, it leaves it to the contenders to decide if they want to work as a team in all rounds of the debate. This could be good news from Gibran, who can now be sure he will have Prabowo to back him up.

The KPU has yet to decide who will moderate the debate, while the first round is only a few days away. Whoever it is, the KPU must ensure that they are sufficiently competent and impartial to lead it. We cannot afford another blunder, which will only erode public trust in the poll body and the whole electoral process.