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.