Debate Of Vice Presidential Candidates Sunday, January 21 Held At JCC

DOK ANTARA/ANTARA PHOTO/Galih Pradipta/aww)

The KPU has determined that the fourth debate venue for the 2024 Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections (Pilpres) which brings together vice presidential candidates (cawapres) will be held at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) on Sunday (21/1).

"The fourth debate which will be held on January 21 (2024) will be held at the JCC," said KPU commissioner August Mellaz, quoted by ANTARA, Monday, January 15.

Mellaz said that the JCC was chosen for reasons of venue availability and that the candidate pair team were familiar because the second debate that brought together the vice presidential candidate on Friday (22/12/2023) was also held at the same location.

"If you look at the experience at the JCC, apart from being available, then technically it can also really help the debate team, and also the candidate pair team is very familiar with the place," he said.

The technical preparation for the debate, said Mellaz, is still under completion. The KPU has planned a final meeting with the candidate pair team and the organizing media for the overall finalization.

"So later on Wednesday (17/1), we will announce it according to our habits in the context of implementing the debate. Starting from moderators, panelists, themes, all kinds of things," he said.

He also emphasized that the fourth debate did not change any format, apart from changing the theme. The theme of the fourth debate includes energy, natural resources (SDA), food, carbon taxes, the environment, agrarianism, and indigenous peoples.

"The theme, which will be debated in the fourth, will have an effect on determining the panelists because what we are looking for is competence from a panelist. From the perspective of the implementation of the debate, starting from 150 minutes (the total duration of the debate): 30 minutes is for ad breaks; 120 minutes for the water debate, yes, and starting at 19.00 then divided into six segments it will be the same there," he explained.

Regarding panelists, the KPU emphasized August, choosing a person who has competence, so it has nothing to do with the closeness of certain candidate pairs. He also said that the KPU did not get protests regarding the selection of panelists from the previous three debates.

"No (not protested). Not at all. No, really. That there is a note, but actually we can make sure that all of that is if we look at the experience of the first, second, third debate, everything is on the track," he said.