Many Indonesians have taken to social media to express their disappointment at what they say was a lacklustre presidential debate kicking off the race to lead the island nation of 250 million people.
Key Points
* The first round of the Indonesia's presidential debate focused on law, human rights, terrorism, and corruption.
* Critics said the debate was less interesting because the candidates looked like they had memorised it
* There will be four more round debates before the election taken place in April 2019
Indonesian netizens were tweeting with anticipation on Thursday night in the lead-up to the first debate ahead of April elections, sending hashtag #DebatePilpres2019 to the top of Twitter's world trends list.
But as the debate between President Joko Widodo and Opposition Leader Prabowo Subianto kicked off, the mood seemed to change as many criticised both men for parroting speeches rather than devising punchy rebuttals.
One social media user even compared it to a high school debate.
[...]
"I will support the deradicalisation program, I will invest heavily in pesantren [Islamic schools], teachers, and our people by improving their quality of life — they won't feel despair and hate the country," he said.
After a similar answer from the opposing side, program commentators said the discussion between two candidates "wasn't dynamic", as neither side was preparing follow-up questions to attack their opponent.
- "That's probably because they were not mastering the terrorism issues in Indonesia," a commentator said. -
[...]
Four more rounds of debates are scheduled in the lead-up to the April election.
The second, to be held next month, will focus on energy, food, natural resources, environment, and infrastructure.
The fourth debate, scheduled in March, will cover ideology, governance, security, and international relationships.
It remains to be seen if Indonesia's relationship with Australia will be mentioned by the candidates.
Magnitude 8 earthquake strikes Amazon jungle in Peru
"Indonesia earthquake death toll could reach 5,000 as officials count missing"
At least one person is dead and many injured after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck northern Peru.
Natasha Christian and AP
News Corp Australia Network May 27, 2019 10:24am
VIDEO
A powerful 8.0-earthquake struck northern Peru in the early hours of Sunday, sending frightened residents rushing into the streets.
The tremor hit close to 5.40pm Australian time (AEST), 2.40am local time.
Some injuries and only one death has been reported.
The force of the quake, however, brought down many old houses in Yurimaguas, a town near the epicenter in a lightly populated area of Peru’s Amazon basin, the town’s mayor Hugo Araujo said.
39 Years Ago Today; Mount St Helens erupts, killing Harry Truman (and others) [...] An earthquake at 8:32:17 a.m. PDT (UTC-7) on Sunday, May 18, 1980, caused the entire weakened north face to slide away, creating the largest landslide ever recorded. This allowed the partly molten, high-pressure gas- and steam-rich rock in the volcano to suddenly explode northwards toward Spirit Lake in a hot mix of lava and pulverized older rock, overtaking the avalanching face. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=148896139
Hurricane Irma Linked to Climate Change? For Some, a Very ‘Insensitive’ Question. By LISA FRIEDMANSEPT. 11, 2017 WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, says it is insensitive to discuss climate change in the midst of deadly storms. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=134516319
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