Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Child protection activists have called on the General Elections Commission (KPU) to enforce the law that prohibits political parties or legislative candidates from involving children in political activities.
The Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) said Thursday the polls body needed to issue regulations on publications, broadcasts and advertisements used during electoral campaigns to ensure children are not included in any way. They also pushed for the national body to punish those groups which use children and violate Article 100 of the 2008 elections law.
"Involving children in political activities such as campaign rallies is a crime and an abuse of children's rights," KPAI chairman Seto Mulyadi told reporters after a meeting with KPU chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary.
"This regulation banning the involvement of children in politics was issued after 2004 as the majority of parties used children in rallies," Seto said.
KPAI said six children died during campaign activities in the 2004 elections, three of whom were killed in traffic accidents.
KPU has declared 44 parties, including six local parties in Aceh, are eligible to run in the April 9 elections. They are permitted to hold public campaigns for the two weeks before the election.
Around 12,000 candidates will fight for 560 seats in the House of Representatives.
In the past, children were frequently present during rally events, which usually turned into dangdut music performances.
"The election is a 'party' in ways, and is not really suitable for a family setting," Seto said.
The commission said the depiction of children in TV campaigns for political parties would also be considered exploitative. Currently, children feature in a number of party ads being broadcast on major TV stations.
KPIA Secretary-general Arist Merdeka Sirait said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and the Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra) used children in their TV campaigns.
The Democratic Party will renominate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono while Gerindra has declared its founder Prabowo Subianto to be its presidential candidate.
Poll watchdogs predict parties will continue to spend big on TV ads to boost their popularity ahead of the elections.
Legislative candidates will also start featuring themselves in commercials to win over voters as the election date draws nearer, particularly because the Constitutional Court has ruled the legislative seats go to the candidates with the most votes.
A study by the Indonesian Survey Institute found Gerindra had conducted the most successful TV campaign compared to their more established rivals Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P),
Abdul said if children were to play a role in campaigns it did not mean they had automatically committed an election violation.
"It is not clear yet whether or not a violation will occur if children join a campaign at their own free will," he said. "We still need to formulate a concept to regulate the involvement of children in campaigns."