December 26, 2023
JAKARTA – General Elections Commission (KPU) chair Hasyim Asy’ari has responded to an allegation made by a former government minister that the election body had helped Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the running mate of front-runner Prabowo Subianto, to cheat in the televised vice presidential debate on Friday.
Former sports and youth minister Roy Suryo, who is also a telematics expert, uploaded a social media post accusing the KPU of providing extra microphones to Gibran, and that one of these was an earpiece that would have allowed information to be fed directly into Gibran’s ear.
While the second debate pitted the three running mates against one another, it also carried extra pressure for Gibran, the 36-year-old political newcomer and the President’s eldest son, to perform on a par with his much more experienced rivals.
Roy tweeted on X to point out the irregularities he had spotted during the live debate, reported Antara News. In one of the screenshots he posted, Gibran can be seen using not two, but three different mics during his turn to speak.
Hasyim said on Saturday that all three candidates had been provided with the same audio equipment.
“All vice presidential candidates used the same tools. Three microphones were used to anticipate any malfunctions,” he said, as quoted by Antara.
Roy, a former firebrand politician from the Democratic Party convicted for blasphemy, questioned Gibran’s use of three mics, which he said were a clip-on, a handheld and a headset, when the other two candidates clearly did not have the same equipment.
In his response, Hasyim explained that the device fitted to Gibran’s ear on Friday was a mic hook and not an earpiece, and made assurances that the debate had been conducted in a fair manner that allowed for candidates to respond on the spot.
“As an organizer, I am aware and prepared to take responsibility,” he continued. “Spontaneous debates cannot be manipulated or influenced by external factors. Roy Suryo’s allegations are baseless.”
Separately on Sunday, Ganjar Pranowo also refuted Roy’s claims.
“There are indeed three [microphones]. All the candidates had the same setup: one could be attached to the ear, another clipped to a shirt and the other was handheld,” said the presidential candidate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), as quoted by Antara.
Ganjar also backed Hasyim’s statement that the three mics were provided to forego any technical glitches during the debate. However, he expressed surprise that Gibran had used all three mics.
“I thought it was excessive when I saw the three mics, but then I suppose there are people who have different ideas and perhaps, their own reasons,” he added, urging journalists to “just ask the person in question” over any other suspicions.
The allegation has since devolved into a contest of legal threats, with Gibran’s campaign team and the KPU head suggesting that Roy be dealt with through legal means, while Roy’s side said it was contemplating a legal challenge against Hasyim for calling the ex-minister a serial liar.