Nusa Dua, Bali (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Vice President Ma'ruf Amin on Wednesday informed that the special debate for vice presidential candidates will cover materials or issues that are important to the public.

"It is important so the public can know that the vice presidential candidates master the issues or not," he explained at the "Appreciation and Submission of the Results of the 2023 Government Agency Performance Accountability System, Bureaucratic Reform, and Integrity Zone Evaluation" here.

He made the statement in response to talks of plans to scrap the vice presidential debate during the 2024 election campaign and instead hold the debate during which VP candidates are accompanied by presidential candidates.

"In the last election, there were three (debate sessions): there was a pair debate (presidential candidate and VP candidate), a separate presidential debate, and a vice presidential debate itself," Amin noted.

He said that the General Elections Commission (KPU) is authorized to select the issues for the debate.

"KPU will assess what issues that become our concern in future development," he added.

The KPU earlier planned to complete the technical discussion on the presidential election debate on Wednesday.

KPU Head Hasyim Asy'ari said that his side has invited the winning team from each candidate pair to attend the technical meeting.

During the meeting, KPU and the three winning teams will discuss the technical matters of the debate in detail.

"We will discuss the debate format, theme, panelists, and the moderator," Asy'ari said.

The commission also decided to broadcast the debate live on a number of national television and other electronic media channels.

The first debate will be held on December 12, 2023, the second on December 22, and the third, fourth, and fifth on January 7, January 21, and February 4, 2024, respectively.

The issues covered in the first debate will include human rights, government, corruption eradication, and democracy.

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Translator: Yashinta P, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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