Home minister says civil servants neutral

SURABAYA: Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno denied on Saturday allegations that civil servants across the country had been instructed to vote for a particular candidate in the election runoff scheduled for Sept. 20.

Hari said no instruction had been given to members of the bureaucracy to vote for a certain candidate.

"As far as I am concerned, there has been no direct instruction from the central government," he was quoted by Antara.

He called on the public to report to the General Elections Commission immediately if they found state officials promoting a particular candidate. -- Antara