KPU criticized over a number of 'biased' ads in dailies
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta
The General Elections Commission (KPU) is being criticized for its information campaign in a number of dailies instructing voters how to vote in the presidential elections, which is seen as benefiting the incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The ads aim to point out samples of valid and invalid votes in the July 5 direct presidential election, the first in the country's history.
However questions were raised over the portrayal of ballot papers that all have symbolic silhouettes of the presidential and vice presidential candidates. The examples shown of a valid vote, have the symbols of two females or a female and male, while all examples of invalid votes happen to have the silhouettes of two men. The silhouettes of the women are shown with their hair in a bun and the men are wearing the peci (cap). The only woman candidate is President Megawati who is running with Hasyim Muzadi.
KPU member Valina Singka Subekti, who is responsible for the ads, was not available for comment on Monday.
Adrianto, a reader of detik.com complained to the on-line news service that "perhaps educated people would understand (that the symbols do not refer to any candidate) but the majority of our people would not understand".
A member of the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) Didik Supriyanto expressed surprise that although the KPU might have aimed to portray gender equality, infomercials from KPU in the past had neutral, gender-less symbols. "But if no other party complains it's not a problem," he said.
Political analyst Ikrar Nusa Bhakti agreed on Monday that the information campaigns might be misleading.
"I don't know whether this was done intentionally by certain KPU officials, but the KPU has violated its own internal agreement on a neutral figure or symbol for their election ads," Ikrar said.
The KPU should withdraw the ads immediately or it may face legal action from other presidential candidates, which would foster distrust for the KPU, he said. Though seen as a body of idealists given that most of its staffers are university lecturers, the KPU has already come under fire from the flaws in the April legislative election. It has already faced several formal complaints lodged with the Constitutional Court by political parties following the election.
Ali Mochtar, a member of the campaign team for candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said that he would file an official protest with the KPU, and urged the commission to withdraw the ads or face litigation.
"We have discussed the ads with Susilo and his running mate Jusuf Kalla. This is unfair ... The KPU has taken the side of a certain presidential candidate. We urge them to withdraw the ads immediately or we will sue," said Ali.
Ali said that the ads are misleading, especially for those who are uneducated, as it clearly shows that the valid votes have a picture of a man and a woman, while the example of an invalid vote depicts two men wearing a peci.