REPUBLICA.CO.ID, YOGYAKARTA -- Vice Presidential candidate number 3, Mahfud MD, commented on the statement of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) requesting that the presidential debate be changed.
“Yes, it's up to the KPU, I think it's good and the tradition has been three such elections,” Mahfud said, when was at around Pakualaman, Yogyakarta, Wednesday (10/1/2024).
According to him, it is common in debates to win in opinion but not win elections. Mahfud judged this to depend on appearance.
“Winning in opinion loses in opinion depending on appearance, nothing,” he said.
He was reluctant to respond to the notion that President Jokowi was impressed by the number 2 presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto. According to him, people can judge Jokowi's attitude.
“Let the public judge, I don't need to judge pairs of bodies or not,” he said.
Earlier, President Joko Widodo judged that the substance of the vision and mission of the presidential and vice presidential candidates in the Third Debate of the 2024 Election Campaign was not very visible. During the debate in Istora Senayan, Jakarta, on Sunday night, according to Jokowi, precisely what stood out was the attitude of attacking each other personally between the presidents, where that should not be the case.
“What looks like is attacking each other, which is actually nothing, the origin of the policy, the origin of the policy, the origin of the vision, nothing,” Jokowi said on Monday (8/1/2024).
According to Jokowi, the presidential debate needs to be better formatted with signs, so that the debate can be more lively.