ID :
25687
Tue, 10/21/2008 - 14:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/25687
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RI SHOULD EMULATE US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DEBATES : LEGISLATOR
Jakarta, Oct 20 (ANTARA) - Indonesia should emulate the US practice of staging public debates among presidential candidates but in a way adjusted to Indonesian conditions, a legislator said.
"In the US, the candidates engage in debates, unlike in Indonesia. If there is something like a debate here, it is more like a question-and-answer session or a quizz show where the time to give an answer is limited by a deadline," said Ganjar Pranowo, secretary of the Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP) faction in the House of Representatives (DPR).
He admitted adoption of the US debating system could improve the quality of Indonesia's presidential elections and denied assumptions among certain parties the PDIP did not want presidential candidate debates.
"Actually , it's not that we don't want such debates but we want a debate to be about something essential," he said.
PDIP leader Megawati Soekarnoputri had also watched the presidential candidate debates in the US with interest."Holding such debates here is a possibility. Let us just see what happens in the days ahead," Pranowo said.
If the debates concern essential issues, the PDIP would take part with the understanding that the US model could not be applied in precisely the same way in Indonesia. "The US has been practicing democracy for a long time but we are relatively new to it," he said.
What could be adopted from the US system was , for instance, the tabling of a proposal by one candidate with the other candidate trying to forward an alternative proposal, Pranowo added.
"In the US, the candidates engage in debates, unlike in Indonesia. If there is something like a debate here, it is more like a question-and-answer session or a quizz show where the time to give an answer is limited by a deadline," said Ganjar Pranowo, secretary of the Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP) faction in the House of Representatives (DPR).
He admitted adoption of the US debating system could improve the quality of Indonesia's presidential elections and denied assumptions among certain parties the PDIP did not want presidential candidate debates.
"Actually , it's not that we don't want such debates but we want a debate to be about something essential," he said.
PDIP leader Megawati Soekarnoputri had also watched the presidential candidate debates in the US with interest."Holding such debates here is a possibility. Let us just see what happens in the days ahead," Pranowo said.
If the debates concern essential issues, the PDIP would take part with the understanding that the US model could not be applied in precisely the same way in Indonesia. "The US has been practicing democracy for a long time but we are relatively new to it," he said.
What could be adopted from the US system was , for instance, the tabling of a proposal by one candidate with the other candidate trying to forward an alternative proposal, Pranowo added.
