KPU retracts controversial ads
KPU retracts controversial ads
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta
Responding to public criticism, the General Elections Commission
(KPU) said on Tuesday it had withdrawn newspaper ads that were
perceived as benefiting the incumbent president.
The public ads were meant to educate people on how to pierce a
ballot paper correctly. In the ads, a vote is considered valid if
the symbols of two females or a female and a male are pierced,
while all examples of invalid votes bore the silhouettes of two
men.
Megawati Soekarnoputri is the only woman contesting the July 5
presidential election. Her running mate, Hasyim Muzadi, is male.
Valina Singka Subekti, who is in charge of the KPU's voter
education program, acknowledged that the commission had erred in
using the pictures in the ads carried by several national
dailies.
"All materials for publication for the voter education program
must have my approval, but the ads in question were published
without my consent. They were given the go-ahead by staff below
me," she explained.
She apologized on behalf of the KPU to the public and to all
five presidential candidates for any adverse impacts of the ads.
Valina, however, said that the mistake was unintentional and
the commission never made policies that would benefit particular
candidates.
The voting information can also be found in fliers and
booklets distributed throughout the country.
A member of the campaign team for candidate Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, Ali Mochtar, has urged the KPU to withdraw the ads or
face litigation.
"We urge the KPU to withdraw the ads immediately or we will
sue it," he said.
He said that the ads could easily mislead the public,
especially those who were uneducated.
One of Hamzah Haz and Agum Gumelar's team members, Chozin
Chumaidy, also criticized the ads. "We want the ads withdrawn and
replaced with something more neutral," he told The Jakarta Post.
When asked if the ads were politically motivated and were
conceived to benefit particular candidates, he said: "We haven't
thought that far ahead."
Chozin said the ads would be discussed at an internal meeting
of the Hamzah-Agum campaign team.
Rully Chairul Azwar of the Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid team
said that it had a filed complaint with the commission. "We have
sent a letter to the KPU demanding clarification of the ads and
the motivation behind such portrayals of presidential
candidates," he told the Post.
He said that the Wiranto-Solahuddin team and the public at
large had every reason to suspect the commission had been
partial, should it fail to give a plausible explanation about the
matter.
"Why run a silhouette of a man and woman? Given the fact that
we only have one pair of male and female candidates, people will
suspect that it was part of a ulterior campaign," he said.