Protest mars first day of Depok election campaigns<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Depok mayoral election campaign period started on Thursday,
\nwith the five teams of candidates delivering their speeches at
\nthe plenary session of the Depok municipal council, and the
\nsigning of a joint declaration for a peaceful election.<\/p>\n
The kick-off for the two-week campaign period was marked with
\na protest from the Democratic Party at the council over the
\nvalidity of the candidates, who they said had yet to declare
\ntheir personal wealth to the public.<\/p>\n
"The declaration of wealth is required by Government
\nRegulation No 17\/2005 on the election of regional leaders. If the
\nelection process continues, we fear there will be legal problem
\nin the future," faction chairman Rintisyanto told the session.<\/p>\n
Several other councillors agreed with Rintisyanto, but they
\nstressed that there was still time for the candidates to meet the
\nrequirement by election day on June 26.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the Depok General Elections Commission (KPU
\nDepok) Zulfadli said that all candidates had submitted wealth
\ndeclarations and the documents were being assessed by the
\nCorruption Eradication Commission (KPK).<\/p>\n
Rintisyanto, however, insisted all candidates should declare
\ntheir wealth without waiting for the KPK's approval, arguing that
\nsuch approval was not required in the regulations.<\/p>\n
Ignoring the protest, other councillors agreed with the
\ncouncil speaker to continue the session, with candidates
\npresenting their political vision.<\/p>\n
Each team was given 15 minutes for the presentation.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, there was no question and answer session
\nbetween the candidates and councillors.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, colorful banners, ballyhoos, posters, and leaflets
\nhave begun to decorate the city since early Thursday.<\/p>\n
However, only campaign materials for current mayor Badrul
\nKamal and running mate Syihabuddin Ahmad and the team of former
\nforestry minister Nur Mahmudi Ismail and Yuyun Wirasaputra were
\nseen in the municipality.<\/p>\n
These two teams, according to a recent telephone poll carried
\nout by the University of Indonesia's Political Science Research
\nCenter, will likely garner most of the vote.<\/p>\n
The other three teams are Yus Suswandi-Soetati Dipowongso,
\nHarun Heryana-Farkhan A.R., and Abdul Wahab Abidin-Ilham Wijaya.<\/p>\n
Badrul-Syihabuddin were nominated by Golkar and the National
\nAwakening Party (PKB), while Nur Mahmudi-Yuyun were named by the
\nProsperous Justice Party (PKS), which dominates the municipality.<\/p>\n
Acting Depok mayor Warma Sutarman demanded that all candidates
\nand their campaign teams control their respective supporters to
\nprevent any incidents during the campaign period that will take
\nplace until June 22.<\/p>\n
"We all hope we will create a history in organizing the first
\ndirect mayoral election without any violence," said the mayor
\nafter signing the peaceful campaign declaration in KPU Depok
\noffice.<\/p>\n
Nearly 900,000 eligible voters are expected to exercise their
\nright to vote at some 2,000 polling stations across the town.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/protest-mars-first-day-of-depok-election-campaigns-1447893297",
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