Jakarta – West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil has been reported to the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) for allegedly campaigning for incumbent presidential candidate Joko "Jokowi" Widodo outside the schedule set by the elections committee.
Ridwan was reported by people claiming to be part of a group called Indonesia on the Move Advocacy Team (TAIB), who accused the governor of campaigning for Jokowi during an event celebrating Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama's anniversary in Garut, West Java, on Saturday. The anniversary event was held concurrently with a declaration of support for the incumbent by a group of volunteers.
According to TAIB, Ridwan was seen in a video chanting, "When I say Garut, you say juara [champion]! I say West Java, you say juara! I say 01, you say juara!".
The accusers argued that by Ridwan saying "01" – a reference to Jokowi and running mate Ma'ruf Amin's ballot number – during NU's anniversary celebration, the governor was campaigning for the incumbent prior to the schedule set by the General Elections Commission (KPU).
The schedule permits presidential and legislative candidates to hold mass gatherings from March 24 to April 13.
"According to the regulation, what Ridwan Kamil did could not be justified and could be seen as a violation of the campaign regulation," TAIB member Muhajir said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Ridwan dismissed the allegation, saying he led the chant during a support declaration event and not during the NU anniversary gathering.
"The hosts at the [declaration] event introduced me as a notable West Java figure and didn't mention my position as governor. It didn't violate the rules," the governor said on Tuesday.
He added that the regulation allowed state officials to be involved in campaigning events during weekends, which he had obeyed.
Muhajir added that Bawaslu could follow up their report because the case was similar to the one implicating Slamet Ma'arif, a member of Jokowi's rival Prabowo Subianto's campaign team.
The police named Slamet – also the chairman of the 212 Alumni Brotherhood (PA212) – a suspect for allegedly campaigning during a mass gathering held by PA212 supporters in Gladak, Surakarta, Central Java, on Jan. 13.
During a speech at the gathering, Slamet mentioned the #2019GantiPresiden (2019ChangePresident) movement, which prompted a Jokowi-Ma'ruf campaign team member to report Slamet to Bawaslu, which later handed the case to the police. (kuk)