Jakarta. Sunday’s vice presidential debate saw candidate Gibran Rakabuming apologizing to his rival Mahfud MD.

“Thank you, Prof. Mahfud for the evaluation. Sorry if I said anything wrong,” Gibran said.

Gibran was asking Mahfud MD on what he had in mind to address green inflation. In the previous debate, Gibran also asked about carbon capture and storage (CSS).

“I think Prof. Mahfud is somewhat displeased. This is the second time I asked difficult questions. The first one was on carbon capture, and now green inflation. But he said they were insubstantial questions,” Gibran said.

Gibran then went on to talk about rice imports. According to Gibran, Indonesia used to be self-sufficient in food back in 2019-2022. However, the country had to import in large numbers due to El Nino. “The same thing also happens in most parts of the world,” Gibran said.

“The key here is how we can work together for the extensification and intensification of lands starting from the village level to the national level in a more effective manner,” Gibran added.

Gibran also tried to defend the food estate, saying that the results do take time. He said: “It is a long-term program. You cannot judge it by the first harvest. … The first three harvests never reach a 100 percent yield. We will only get to see the full results on the sixth, seventh, or eighth harvest.”

Gibran also told Mahfud to stop spreading fear-mongering narratives.

“This is something that we will have to work on. Don’t spread fear-mongering narratives. While the other candidates feel that the food estate program has been a failure, once again, there are some that failed. But there are also those who succeeded. For instance, [the food estate] program in Gunung Mas, Central Kalimantan, they are already harvesting corn and cassava,” Gibran said.