PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - The General Election Commission (KPU) of West Java Province (Jabar) successfully held the first debate for the 2024 West Java Governor and Deputy Governor Election (Pilgub), at the Graha Sanusi Building, Unpad, Bandung City on Monday (11/11/2024) evening WIB.

The Chairperson of the West Java KPU, Ummi Wahyuni, expressed her appreciation and gratitude to all parties who supported this event.

"Alhamdulillah, the debate held on November 11, 2024 with pairs from the province went well, was interesting, and successful," said Ummi, Tuesday (11/12/2025)

Ummi said that her party would conduct an evaluation regarding the technical aspects of the debate which indeed needed improvement.

"We fully understand the technical constraints, this will be an improvement for the second and third debates," he said.

Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Division of Socialization of Voter Education and Community Participation of the West Java KPU, Hedi Ardia, responded to criticism and suggestions regarding the technical debate which was considered too short, only 2 minutes to convey the vision and mission and 45 seconds to answer each question.

"For the initial debate alone, each pair was only given 2 minutes. Then for questions asked by the moderator, the answers were shortened to 45 seconds. The total debate time was almost 3 hours," said Hedi.

"You can imagine if we add more time. Right now, the shortened debate time still reaches almost 3 hours. That's one of the points," he added.

In addition, for this duration, according to Heddi, it is actually the maximum at 2 minutes and 45 seconds per session.

"It can be changed, but we need to consider the audience's concentration level. Too long can make them bored. So, we should maintain the current duration," he explained.

Next, for the second debate, Hedi admitted that he would ask for input from the drafting team and other parties about what needed to be improved.

"Earlier, I also received a message from the drafting team that we managed to avoid unwanted topics, such as personal property, which could invite debate outside the context of the theme. We deliberately adjusted the question-and-answer format between the pairs to the determined theme," he emphasized.

It was acknowledged by all the West Java gubernatorial candidates that the first debate went smoothly and satisfactorily. As stated by candidate pair number one, Acep Adang Ruhiat-Gitalis Dwi Natarina.

"I really enjoyed the atmosphere of today's debate, because the family atmosphere created by the four pairs showed that this was not a fight or conflict, but how to offer programs that will be pursued in the next 5 years," said Acep Adang, after the debate.

Likewise, the candidate pair number two, Jeje-Ronald, felt the same. Although there needs to be an evaluation regarding the time that is considered too short.

"I think it needs to be re-evaluated, so that both the duration and the pattern can emerge. This debate is a reference for the people of West Java to choose, so of course the format and the time are good, so that this year we can express all development concepts so that the people are clear," he said.

Likewise, Ahmad Syaikhu-Ilham Habibie stated that their appearance in the first debate had to be clever in managing the rhythm so that all ideas could be conveyed.

"Yes, the time given was very short, 45 seconds. But thank God everything could be implemented, and I think all the messages have been conveyed," he said.

Meanwhile, candidate pair number four, Dedi Mulyadi-Erwan, assessed that in the previous debate, the questions given were more focused on technical matters that are usually carried out by government departments.

"Very technical, and that is actually the answer that is usually done by government technical workers, because the leader's job is to know all the problems in their entirety, so that they can apply them in policies to the community through the provincial government apparatus," he said. (no)