JAKARTA: Observers said on Friday the incumbent Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono remains the favourite to retain his presidency in next week's election.

The three presidential candidates engaged in their final televised debate on Thursday night. But disappointingly, just like the first two rounds, there were hardly any exchanges among the candidates during the debate.

They agreed on most issues relating to Indonesia's unitary state, democracy and regional autonomy. The only exception was when Vice President Jusuf Kalla accused the incumbent of trying to destroy democracy – a charge Dr Yudhoyono swiftly dismissed.

"My apologies, Mr SBY. But your advertisement calling for a one-round presidential election to save 4 trillion rupiah means you're linking democracy with money," said Mr Kalla.

"The advertisement you are referring to is not an SBY's advertisement. It is not an SBY campaign advertisement," the president replied.

A survey institute that is linked to Dr Yudhoyono's campaign team has been putting up advertisements calling for a one-round election after polls showed that the incumbent's popularity hovered above 60 per cent.

Besides this advert, another controversial issue arose after a presidential spokesman was reported to have said that an ethnic Bugis is not yet ready to lead Indonesia.

Mr Kalla is a Bugis and the only non-Javanese among the three candidates.

"Everyone has the same right. That is why anyone can lead this nation. The racist view that one of the ethnic groups has no right to be president is very dangerous to this country," said Mr Kalla.

While Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri continued to be vague in her idea of "gotong-royong" or spirit of togetherness for Indonesia, President Yudhoyono was more precise in his plans, especially in handling border disputes with neighbouring countries.

He said: "I am of the view – after administering border disputes for the last five years – that we will not surrender to outside party. We will handle it ourselves either through diplomacy or other ways, as long as our sovereignty is intact and our territories remain. Other countries will not take even an inch away."

Some 80 million viewers are believed to have followed every round of the debate. However, observers are not convinced that the televised debates had much influence on voters, especially those with little education who form the majority of the population.

Sunny Tanuwidjaja, political analyst, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia, said: "The fact that after all these times, SBY has been highly popular among them... he has proven himself.

"His policies have been very helpful for them. That's all they need to know. It doesn't matter what you debate – national identity, economic policies – all those issues will not matter anymore."


- CNA/so