Kalla to campaign in local elections

Kalla to campaign in local elections

Apriadi Gunawan and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Medan/Jakarta

Some of the nation's political big guns will be out in force in
Medan in the next month, lending their support to candidates
running for the mayoral elections, with the Golkar Party
incumbents looking to get the most heavyweight endorsement.

Golkar leader and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Golkar deputy
leader and House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono, former
Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) leader and People's Consultative
Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid, and State Minister of Youth
Affairs and Sports Adyaksa Dault, also of PKS, will all be out
campaigning for their respective parties.

In the mayoral race, which pits the Golkar juggernaut against
the PKS underdogs, Kalla and Agung will be there to support
mayoral candidate and incumbent Abdillah and his running mate,
Ramli; while Hidayat and Adyaksa will line up with the PKB's
Maulana Pohan and Sigit Pramono Asri who will contest under the
anticorruption, Muslim-based party's banner.

The official campaign period for the mayoral election in Medan
will begin from June 10 through June 23, with voting held on June
27 after a three-day cooling down period.

The secretary of the campaign team for the Abdillah-Ramli
pairing, Harmen Ginting, said Kalla and Agung had been registered
with the local election commission and had confirmed their visit
to Medan for the campaign.

"Kalla and Agung are willing to take part in the campaign
because of their close personal ties with Abdillah," Harmen said,
adding that Golkar advisor Surya Paloh and Crescent Star Party
(PBR) leader Zainuddin M.Z. would also campaign for the Golkar
candidates.

The nomination of Abdillah, the incumbent mayor, has also been
supported by seven other parties, he said, including the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the United Development
Party, the National Mandate Party and the Democrat Party, making
him the most-backed candidate.

The leader of the Maulana-Sigit success team, Ikrimah Hamidy,
expressed his pleasure at the participation of Hidayat and
Adyaksa in the party's mayoral campaign.

Maulana, the current deputy to Abdilla, also leads the PKS
North Sumatra provincial chapter.

The chief of local poll commission for campaign affairs,
Taufik Umar Dhani Harahap, confirmed the registration of the
state officials as campaigners for candidates of their respective
parties.

He said the Abdilla-Ramli pairing had registered more than
4,300 campaigners while the Maulana-Sigit team had a much smaller
67.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said no special
decrees would be issued regarding the involvement of state
officials in local elections.

"The matter is regulated in Law No. 32/2004. It just needs to
be enforced," Andi said on Friday, referring to articles 79 and
80 of the Law No. 32/2004 on regional administration.

Article 79 bans government officials, executives of state and
local government-owned enterprises, law enforcers, military,
civil servants and village heads from showing partiality toward
any candidates. However, it does not specifically regulate
against politicians campaigning who are carrying out party
commitments.

The government issued a regulation that allows state officials
to campaign for parties or candidates during the legislative and
presidential elections last year, providing they take leave to
avoid possible abuses of state assets.