Andreas D. Arditya and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Political campaigns in the race for the governor of Jakarta are turning nastier, as contenders strive to attract voters in an election that has captivated the whole nation, and which is said will serve as a prelude to the 2014 presidential election.

In the past few weeks, supporters of both candidates, Fauzi Bowo and Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, have engaged in mudslinging campaigns, for which the two camps claim they are not responsible.

On Friday, Governor Fauzi was forced to dismiss allegations that a spike in fire incidents in the capital during the Idul Fitri holiday was in any way related to his reelection bid. "Please do not link [the incidents] with the election. Do not politicize it. It has nothing to do with it," he told reporters.

The city has seen an average of 70 fires each month between January and June, rising to 115 in July and 109 in August. This is hardly surprising, as many densely populated residential areas in the capital are deemed highly prone to fire due to rampant electricity theft and poor urban planning. The likelihood of fires is also higher during the Idul Fitri holiday, when Jakartans leave their houses empty to spend the holiday in their hometowns.

But a text message has been circulating on the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service suggesting that the fires were engineered to target areas where out-of-towner Jokowi won the majority of votes in the July 11 election. The Jokowi camp has demanded that the police investigate the incidents.

Fauzi refused to comment further on the smear campaign against him, saying: "Let's not bring politics into this. Let's just wait for the results of the police investigation."

Meanwhile, racial tensions continue to simmer in the first gubernatorial election involving a Christian of Chinese descent after the 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Jakarta.

A video emerged on YouTube showing threats of violence toward locals of Chinese descent who wish to cast their votes in the upcoming election runoff. In the video, a man with a blurred face and a raspy voice says, "We, the citizens and young saviors of Jakarta, are giving an ultimatum to residents of [a certain] descent, not to vote in the gubernatorial election or else...."

The man was shown brandishing a bladed weapon in the video. It was not immediately clear which residents the man was referring to, but the video was plastered with a small watermark that read "anti-Chinese". The speech is then followed by footage from the May 1998 riots across Jakarta, when anti-Chinese violence became widespread in the city and resulted in the massive exodus of locals of Chinese descent, many of whom never returned.

Many deemed the video an attack against deputy gubernatorial candidate Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who is of Chinese descent.

The police downplayed rumors that the video's uploader might have been connected to either one of the two candidate pairs in the upcoming runoff. "We cannot assume that the uploader was connected to either pair. What's clear is that there are some parties who would like to muddy the waters," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said.

Separately, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto urged people not to be easily incited by such hatemongering on the Internet. "This misuse of technology with the single purpose to incite hatred and to threaten others is not beneficial for our democracy," he told a press conference. "I hope that nobody will be provoked by these irresponsible individuals and that they maintain peace in our diverse society."

Jeirry Sumampouw, an election observer from the Indonesian Election Committee (TePI), called on Jakarta's Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) to take stern action against the "nasty" campaigns. "Panwaslu must not make the same mistake it made in the Rhoma case. The committee did not hand down any punishment in the case," Jeirry said. Panwaslu's weak move, he said, had not helped to curb the escalating racial and religious tensions.

Last month, dangdut singer and Muslim preacher Rhoma Irama was questioned by Panwaslu after delivering an allegedly derogatory and politically charged sermon during prayers at a mosque in Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, while Fauzi was in attendance. He was cleared of alleged campaign regulation violations.

On July 11, Jokowi finished first after winning 1,847,157 votes, or 42.6 percent of the 4,336,486 valid votes in the election. Fauzi came second with 1,476,648, or 34.05 percent of the vote. The two will face each other in the runoff vote on Sept. 20.

Smear campaigns in Jakarta election

• In a sermon at Al Isra Mosque in Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, Rhoma Irama warned Muslims in Jakarta about the dangers of electing Jokowi, whose mother he labeled a Christian, and Ahok, a Chinese-Indonesian and a Christian.

• A YouTube video of Fauzi's visit to victims of the fire in Karet Tengsin, Central Jakarta, sees him questioning their choices in the election: "Now, who will you choose? If [you] choose Jokowi, you'd better build [your homes] in Surakarta."

• A circulated text message accusing Fauzi of masterminding the recent fire incidents across Jakarta.

• Banners stating "Jokowi Menang Mega Presiden" (Jokowi Wins, Mega the President) were spotted in several areas.

• A YouTube video threatening the Chinese not to vote in the runoff election.

• Pamphlets describing Jokowi as a Zionist in West Jakarta.