'No election campaign in campuses'
'No election campaign in campuses'
JAKARTA (JP): Election campaigning should not be conducted on
college and university campuses because it goes against the
mission of higher learning institutions, according to a rector.
Muladi, rector of Semarang-based Diponegoro University, said
yesterday even the so-called "campaign through dialog," supposed
to be an alternative to street rallies where the risk of trouble
is great, should not be held on campuses.
"There's no way an election campaign could be scientific in
nature. It'll be very emotional, probably even marked with name-
calling -- campuses are the venues for scientific discourse
only," Muladi was quoted by Antara as saying in Semarang
yesterday.
"If election campaigns are held on campuses, they will tarnish
the spirit of science and academic freedom," he asserted.
Muladi was responding to suggestions by leaders of the United
Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party that a
certain mode of campaigning, in this case the political debates
Indonesians called "campaign through dialog," be held on campuses
in order to remain neutral.
Muladi, also a member of the National Commission on Human
Rights and a champion of people's freedom for expression, said
election campaigns are meant to amass popular support.
"This can't be done on campuses because there's the national
policy that campuses should not be turned into venues for
practical politics," he said.
"(Administrators of) campuses who permit election campaigning
are disloyal toward the national consensus on education," he
added.
He said he doubted there would be people willing to claim
responsibility should unrest break out during campaigns on
campuses. "People would flee ... and that means rectors would
have to be held responsible," he said.
He suggested election campaigns, instead, be held in
surrounding areas, during which university students could also
attend.
"As long as it's not on campuses. The campuses should be left
as neutral areas," he reiterated. (swe)