Prabowo Will Not Humiliate Anies and Ganjar in the Next Presidential Debates on Geopolitics and Security

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The next Indonesian presidential debate on Sunday (7/1/2024) will cover the topics of foreign policy, geopolitics and security. The debate involves foreign policy and defense experts from various universities to design the questions.

Among the three candidates, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto can be expected to gain momentum since this topic is directly related to his long-career. Anies Baswedan who received his advanced degrees in politics and international security from the US universities may also hold his ground.

Ganjar Pranowo is the only candidate who does not have professional or academic background from abroad. VP candidate Mahfud MD, Ganjar's running mate, reassured the public that Ganjar has made preparations. 

"He has been ready, whether to receive the questions, answer the questions, or shoot the questions during the debate. He has prepared for everything," said Mahfud MD on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Prabowo's campaign team has also reassured the public that Prabowo will not "humiliate" other candidates in the next debate although Prabowo has mastered the topic.

"So on the presidential candidate debates on tomorrow, it will not a place to show off, no. And Mr. Prabowo will not shame, will not humiliate, will not attack other presidential candidate," said the Deputy Chief of National Campaign Team of Prabowo-Gibran, Habiburokhman.

After the previous vice presidential debate, Prabowo's VP candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the son of President Joko Widodo, was facing criticism for allegedly asking a trick question to Cak Imin, Anies Baswedan's running mate.

Gibran asked Cak Imin about SGIE (State of the Global Islamic Economy), and Cak Imin openly admitted he did not know its definition. The second debate was about economics affairs and Cak Imin performed rather poorly compared to his rivals.

Muhammad Ali and Lizsa Egeham contributed to this report.