Open Campaign Starts

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Presidential candidate number 1 Joko Widodo greets crowds at a campaign event at Sultan Maulana Yusuf Field, Serang, Banten, on Sunday (24/3/2019). High-ranking executives of the political parties supporting him were also present at the campaign.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Public meetings or open campaigns, according to the schedule of the General Elections Commission (KPU), started on Sunday and will run until April 13. Both presidential and vice-presidential candidate pairs, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma\'ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno, showed the way on how to conduct peaceful campaigns.

Meanwhile, even though the campaign has begun, a number of legislative candidates -- who will fight for seats in the House of Representatives, Regional Representatives Council (DPD), Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) and Regency/City Legislative Council (DPRD) -- have not taken advantage of the opportunities available. In Surabaya, Semarang and other cities, no open campaigns were held. Team members of the presidential candidates, candidates for the DPD, and legislative candidates preferred to introduce themselves through billboards, banners and posters in strategic locations.

Nevertheless, in a number of regions, many candidates used the open campaign to directly meet the people or going door to door to canvass potential voters. They explained the programs they would carry out if elected as well as their vision and mission.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Presidential candidate number 1 Joko Widodo greets crowds at a campaign event at Sultan Maulana Yusuf Field, Serang, Banten, on Sunday (24/3/2019). High-ranking executives of the political parties supporting him were also present at the campaign.

In Serang, Banten, the Jokowi-Ma\'ruf campaign began with a carnival that showcased various Banten traditional arts, such as pencak silat, rudak, debus, and marawis. Jokowi was then paraded on a horse-drawn carriage from the West Square of Serang to the Maulana Yusuf Stadium Complex in Ciceri, which is about 2.7 kilometers away.The carnival was also attended by the chairman of the National Campaign Team (TKN), Erick Thohir and senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Pramono Anung, as well as a number of political party leaders supporting Jokowi-Ma\'ruf.

After an open campaign at the stadium, Jokowi emphasized that the general election was actually a party for democracy. Therefore, the campaign should be carried out by spreading excitement in the community. "The (election) is indeed a party for democracy, there is no need to fill the campaign with frightening things. The core of our campaign is actually excitement on the streets. So, we use cultural parties, carnivals, that\'s what we do," he said.

In addition to the carnival, on the first day of the open campaign, Jokowi had a meeting with Banten’s clerics at the stadium.

Meanwhile, Prabowo began his campaign at Karebosi Field, Makassar, South Sulawesi, starting at 3:30 p.m. with a one-hour speech. Previously, Prabowo\'s campaign was filled with speeches from various supporting parties and dangdut music.

KOMPAS/EDNA CAROLINE PATTISINA

Supporters of Presidential candidate Number 2 Prabowo Subianto attend an open campaign event at the Karebosi Field in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Sunday (24/3/2019). Prabowo asked his supporters to maintain peace and security in the 2019 presidential election.

Prabowo began his speech by introducing the people who accompanied him, such as South Sulawesi businessman Erwin Aksa, the South Sulawesi executive board chairman of the Gerindra Party, Idris Manggabarani, and other political party leaders in South Sulawesi. Also present were the deputy general chairman of the Democratic Party, Syarief Hasan, former governor of South Sulawesi HM Amin Syam, as well as a number of businessmen and politicians. Later in the day, Prabowo continued the campaign in Manado, North Sulawesi.

In his speech, Prabowo said, together with the Indonesian Adil Makmur Coalition, he had prepared a plan to solve the various economic problems Indonesia faced. According to him, the government should be clean and effective so that people can enjoy Indonesia\'s wealth. "Our determination is to hand Indonesia\'s wealth back to the people," he said.

Prabowo also asked Makassar residents to elect candidates from the political parties of the Indonesian Adil Makmur Coalition.

ANTARA FOTO/ADWIT B PRAMONO

Presidential candidate Number 2 Prabowo Subianto greets thousands of his supporters at Ketang Ternate Baru field, Manado, North Sulawesi, on Sunday (24/3/2019). In his speech, Prabowo asked for the support of residents of North Sulawesi, the birthplace of his mother.

Preventing the “poison” of democracy

In the midst of a tight contestation, the chairman of the General Elections Supervisory Board, Abhan, and Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said the consolidation of democracy in Indonesia should be safeguarded by avoiding the "poison" of democracy during the campaign, namely vote buying, open conflict and divisive identity politics.

The general meetings of the campaign for the 2019 general election, which began on Sunday, was used by a number of institutions and volunteers, observing the election, to monitor the rules outlined by all candidates.

The secretary-general of the Indonesian Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), Kaka Suminta, said on Sunday after the launch of the 85,000 observers in 15 provinces campaign in Jakarta, that the general meetings were important because that was where the candidates devoted all their resources. "(There is) the potential for friction (because of) the presidential election situation," Kaka said.

He added that even though it was not yet time to conduct polling station (TPS) monitoring, at least with monitoring the general meetings there was an overview of the information obtained. More than that, the monitoring can also document anything that happens.

The monitoring manager for the People\'s Voter Education Network (JPRR), Alwan Riantoby, said the initial mapping of the problems in the campaign would be used as input for the next stage, such as the cooling-off period until voting day, vote counting and afterwards.

(NTA/EDN/REK/BAY/COK/RWN/ETA/BRO/GER/RTG)