TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice presidential candidate number 01, Ma'ruf Amin, has prepared himself to vie with Sandiaga Uno in the third election debate which will take place on Sunday, March 17, 2019, at Sultan Hotel, Jakarta. Along with his team, the former supreme leader of Nahdlatul Ulama has compiled materials to overcome attacks of his election rival.

1. Speaking in a time limit

Ma'ruf admitted that speaking in limited time during a debate is his weakness. He claimed that speaking in limited time, lighting installment, and shouts from supporters might possibly beset him.

“He [Ma'ruf Amin] usually gives a long speech in a sermon,” said the Jokowi - Ma'ruf national campaign team director for political communication, Usman Kansong, Thursday, March 14, in Jokowi - Ma'ruf Media Center Jakarta.

2. Solutions for stunting issue

The campaign team deputy head Rosan Roeslani said he had drafted solutions for stunting issue in the country. However, Rosan who is the chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) was tight-lipped to detail the topic.

3. Three-stage answers

According to the program director of the campaign team, Aria Bima, on Thursday, March 14, Ma'ruf Amin has been trained to answer questions concerning the current government era of Jokowi - Jusuf Kalla and the integration between past visions and future goals of Jokowi - Ma'ruf. Aria said that it was aimed at providing integrated contents on the government’s past, current, and future programs.

4. Pre-Employment Card

During his campaign tour in Cilegon, Banten, Ma'ruf said that he would explain his flagship programs related to the debate theme, should he and Jokowi win the upcoming presidential election. The programs are the pre-employment card, smart Indonesian card, and health Indonesian card.

5. Perform in preaching data-style

Aria Bima said that Ma'ruf Amin would perform in his typical preaching data-style in the third election debate considering the figure of ulema and kiai or Islamic teacher was the latter’s inherent characteristic. However, Ma'ruf would maintain his professionality as a candidate of the presidential election.

FIKRI ARIGI | RYAN DWIKY ANGGRIAWAN