Is It True That The Debate Of The Presidential Candidate Will Influence Bimbang Voters?

Anies Baswedan, Prabowo Subianto, and Ganjar Pranowo in the inaugural debate of the 2024 Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates at the KPU Building, Jakarta, Tuesday (12/12/2023). (Between/Galih Pradipta/YU)

JAKARTA The Presidential Candidate Debate organized by the General Elections Commission (KPU) is said to have an important role to play in attracting voters. However, other opinions say that the presidential candidate debate is nothing more than conveying the vision and mission of the candidates.

The KPU started a series of presidential candidates on Tuesday (12/12/2023) which was attended by three presidential candidates, namely Anies Baswedan, Prabowo Subianto and Ganjar Pranowo. Each presidential candidate was given four minutes to explain their vision and mission in the 2024 presidential election.

In this inaugural debate, the KPU carries the topic of law, human rights, government, eradication of corruption, strengthening democracy, and harmony of citizens.

The presidential candidate debate, which is broadcast live on almost all national television stations, is said to be a reference for prospective voters ahead of the voting period on February 14, 2024.

Executive Director of Indonesian Presidential Studies (IPS) Nyarwi Ahmad said that the inaugural debate last night had an important role to play in attracting voter bases, especially those called unfair voters or indecisive voters.

Based on the Litbang Kompas poll in December 2023, the electability of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates number two Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka ranks first. They got 39.3 percent electability based on the survey which took place from November 29 to December 4.

In second place the pair Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar with 16.7 percent while Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD are in a distended position with 15.3 percent.

This means that there are still approximately 28.7 percent of respondents who have yet to make a choice or keep their choices a secret.

"Not to mention the unfair voters or voters who have not made a choice, it is also quite large in some survey data," said Nyarwi, quoted from Youtube Kompas.com.

"If we look at the condition, this debate has a huge impact on the attention of voters," Nyarwi added.

On the same occasion, Nyarwi said that the series of presidential election debates in 2024 had two important functions. First, to convey important material in the campaign. Second, voters also have the opportunity to test how much quality, competence, commitment, solutions, and real things they can do.

But in reality, the Indonesian people seem to have been full of promises from the presidential candidates displayed in the debate event. The description of all ideas in the debate event is considered mere rhetoric.

Therefore, according to political observer from Al Azhar University Indonesia Andriadi Achmad, the presidential candidate debate will not affect prospective voters. Moreover, according to him, the presidential candidate debate is not a token to all circles.

"The presidential candidate's debate actually doesn't really affect the electability or prospective voters, because it is watched by a small number of people. Usually only educated people who watch while the lower class doesn't know, maybe they don't even want to know," Andriadi explained to VOI.

"This presidential candidate debate is to distinguish the ability of the candidates to communicate, but it doesn't actually have a big impact," he added.

Things that affect electability, according to Andriadi, are the real actions of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates during the campaign period. The man from Bengkulu also did not fully agree with the assumption that the presidential candidate debate could make the prospective voters finally make a choice.

What affects the electability to go up or down is when going to the field. The vision and mission expressed during the debate does not affect if there is no movement on the ground," he said.

At the first presidential candidate debate, Anies Baswedan was considered the brightest figure. The former governor of DKI Jakarta also conveyed his vision and mission calmly, even when answering questions from panelists.

Anies' expertise in rhetoric is said to be superior to his two competitors, Prabowo and Ganjar. He was also repeatedly involved in heated debates with Prabowo, one of which was when discussing democracy in Indonesia.

But Andriadi assessed that the 'victory' in the presidential candidate debate was not the only reference in the upcoming presidential election. He reflected on the experience of the 2014 and 2019 editions of the presidential candidate where Prabowo Subianto was considered superior to his political opponents, including Joko Widodo, but the opposite was the case during the presidential election.

"Anies Baswedan does look the most powerful, it can be said that the winner of this debate is Anies. The vision and mission he presented is good," said Andriadi.

"But once again, the small presidential candidate debate has no effect on prospective voters," Andriadi stressed.