As far as political debates go, AIYA NSW\u2019s 2014 Indonesian Election Preview on Thursday 3rd April was pretty spectacular to behold.<\/p>\n
A \u201cpolitician\u201d from six of the major Indonesian parties were present on the night – a remarkable Australian first! Associate Professor Simon Butt from the University of Sydney\u2019s Law Faculty set the tone as the debate\u2019s moderator under the guise of the Indonesian Constitutional Court, and drew everyone\u2019s attention to the large envelopes on his desk before the speeches began!<\/p>\n
Prabowo Subianto (Alison Martin<\/a>, political media and policy adviser) of Gerindra took to the stage first, and nearly had us believing that his dubious human rights record would make him a more experienced President. Second up, the PDI-P\u2019s Jokowi (Dr Ross Tapsell<\/a>, Asian Studies lecturer at ANU) reminded us what all the fuss is about as he chose to avoid the stage altogether to sit among the audience. Jokowi adopted his classic \u2018man of the people\u2019 style as he jumped around asking people about which political issues matter most to them, of course carefully ensuring the cameras were always pointing his way!<\/p>\n