The final debate of the Aceh gubernatorial election ended prematurely and was not resumed, even though it had not concluded, due to clashes between supporters of the candidate pairs on Tuesday night.
“Given that the time limit has expired, this third public debate is declared over, and there will be no further public debates,” said Agusni AH, Chairman of the Aceh Independent Election Commission (KIP), to the media on Tuesday night.
Agusni explained that the final debate was expected to proceed smoothly. However, the disruption occurred due to allegations of one candidate using an electronic device, which was protested by another candidate.
“The first and second debates ran smoothly, but during the third, following indications of the use of electronic devices attached to a candidate’s body, a protest arose, halting the debate midway,” he stated.
Agusni said that the KIP Aceh attempted to mediate between the two candidate teams following the altercation. Initially, both parties agreed to resume the debate under three important conditions:
- The use of electronic devices is strictly prohibited.
- The alleged electronic device used by one candidate must be removed.
- The debate will continue with the remaining time left.
This agreement was also signed by both candidates.
“It was agreed that the remaining 1 minute and 12 seconds of the vision and mission presentation session would be continued by candidate pair No. 1,” he explained.
However, when preparations were being made to return to the debate stage, one party insisted on continuing, while the other requested that it be stopped, citing an unconducive atmosphere.
As the organizer, Agusni said, KIP Aceh facilitated discussions to reach an agreement between the two parties. However, since the allotted time of 120 minutes had already been exceeded, the broadcast could no longer continue.
Regarding the use of electronic devices, Agusni clarified that this issue was already covered in the debate regulations and had been discussed during a coordination meeting involving all parties, including the liaison officers (LO) from both candidate pairs and the supporting political parties.
Previously, it was reported that the commotion during the Aceh gubernatorial debate was allegedly triggered by the use of a communication device by candidate pair No. 1, Bustami Hamzah-M Fadhil Rahmi.
This allegation prompted supporters of candidate pair No. 2, Muzakir Manaf-Fadhlullah, to storm the stage, forcing the debate to be halted.
Kamaruddin Abubakar (Abu Razak), Secretary of the Aceh Party and supporter of candidate pair No. 2, conveyed this to the media at The Pade Hotel on Tuesday night (11/19/2024).
“Candidate pair No. 1 used a prohibited device. According to the information we received, it was an auxiliary recording device,” said Abu Razak.
He emphasized that his team has evidence and criticized the lack of inspection of candidate pair No. 1 before the debate began.
