Mayoral candidates pull out all stops<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung<\/p>\n
That morning, a well-built man in his 40s came to Tanjungkarang
\ntrain station wearing a black suit, followed by officials from
\nstate railway PT Kereta Api Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"Let's ask Pak Heriyanto, he's our mayoral candidate,"
\nprompted one of the officials.<\/p>\n
In a flash, acting like a real mayor himself, Heriyanto
\nchatted with train passengers, asking them about the train
\ncompany's services.<\/p>\n
The 41-year-old, a businessman who owns several car showrooms
\nin Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, is a candidate for mayor in the
\nBandarlampung mayoral election slated for mid June this year.<\/p>\n
On that particular morning, he came to the station on an
\n"impromptu visit" along with a group of journalists and
\nphotographers who were busy capturing the moment on camera. The
\nnext day, his face was all over several local newspapers.<\/p>\n
A couple of days later, Heriyanto again showed up at Way Halim
\nmarket in Bandarlampung. At the traditional market, he approached
\nalmost every trader simply to introduce himself or chat with
\nthem.<\/p>\n
"I'm Heriyanto, I am asking for your blessings to run for
\nmayor," he told every trader, while stopping once in a while to
\nbuy some necessities, from vegetables to clothing.<\/p>\n
That's his campaign style approach; showing up in public
\nplaces to win people's sympathy.<\/p>\n
For Heriyanto, introducing himself is very important since he
\nlives in Jakarta although he was born and raised in
\nBandarlampung.<\/p>\n
Apart from visiting public places, he also placed ads in
\nLampung Post daily. This month alone, he has placed three ads.<\/p>\n
Since he passed the preliminary selection of the Democratic
\nParty, his face and slogan have appeared regularly in a two-
\ncolumn ad in the daily. He reportedly spent around Rp 100 million
\n(US$11,111) on advertising during his campaign.<\/p>\n
His strategy has proven effective. According to an opinion
\npoll by the Democratic Party, he had gained 4,882 supporters as
\nof Thursday evening.<\/p>\n
He beat other more prominent candidates such as former
\nchairman of Bandarlampung Golkar Party Edy Sutrisno and chairman
\nof Indonesian Coffee Importers Association in Bandarlampung,
\nNuril Hakim. Edy won 2,362 votes while Nuril got 877.<\/p>\n
Darussalam, a 43-year-old candidate for Bandarlampung deputy
\nmayor from the Democratic Party also made good use of the media
\nin his campaign.<\/p>\n
In the last four months, chairman of the Batanghari Sembilan
\nCommunity in Bandalampung, an organization who members are from
\nthe Komering ethnic group and Bengkulu, has placed his photo and
\nambulance service in two-column ad in Lampung Post daily.<\/p>\n
Darussalam said the ambulance service was intended for social
\npurposes, and true to his word, none of the users were charged,
\nexcept for gasoline and meals for the ambulance driver.<\/p>\n
Again, his campaign was effective. In a poll conducted by the
\nparty, Darussalam ranked first with 5,181 supporters, while his
\nrivals Zamzani Yasin and Julian Manaf, also from the same party,
\nonly gained 2,006 and 721 respectively.<\/p>\n
The role of the print media in the campaign was recognized by
\ncommunication expert Nanang Trenggone of the Lampung University.
\nHowever, he asserted there was no guarantee that the candidates,
\nwho used the media in their campaign, could win the election.<\/p>\n
"Lampung people don't have the habit of reading. The total
\nnumber of newspapers copies are around 30,000. Assuming a paper
\nis read by four people, that's only 120 newspapers readers. In
\nreality, the number of eligible voters are 549,325," Nanang said.<\/p>\n
He added that it would not be easy to influence readers to
\nvote for certain candidate since the voters in the city were more
\nrational than those in the rural villages.<\/p>\n
Media watch activist Budi Santoso Budiman of the Lampung Media
\nCenter found the media was biased in their reports on several
\ncandidates. He noticed that the activities of candidates who did
\nnot place ads in the newspapers, were rarely reported in the
\nnewspapers.<\/p>\n
"On the contrary, the candidates who placed ads would be
\nfrequently reported. Their photos would appear in the paper
\nalthough they have no news value," Budi said.<\/p>\n
He said the local media in Lampung province would
\ntraditionally support advertisers, not only during the direct
\nelection of regional head or general election.<\/p>\n
"So, don't expect to read any negative reports about the
\nadvertisers. The tabloids and weeklies are even worse, it's hard
\nto find out whether their reports are advertisements or not,"
\nBudi said.<\/p>\n
Lampung Post chief editor Djadjat Sudradjat said his paper was
\nopen to all candidates.<\/p>\n
"We're objective and not taking the side of a particular
\ncandidate. In order to prevent bias, our paper has taken
\nprecautions, such as by distributing circulars preventing our
\njournalists from becoming a member of a candidate's success team.
\nIf we found out that they have done so, there will be sanctions,"
\nDjadjat said.<\/p>",
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