The campaign teams of both Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto (JK-Win) and Megawati Soekarnoputri-Prabowo Subianto (Mega-Pro) have questioned Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's claim that TV advertisements promoting a single-round election were not made by his campaign team.
In his opening speech on Thursday during the final round of the presidential debates, Kalla had mentioned the commercials, accusing Yudhoyono of promoting a democracy that could be valued in money terms.
Yudhoyono responded by saying, "Those ads were not mine."
"Then those commercials were illegal, because during the campaign period only official campaign teams are permitted to air advertisements," Kalla said.
Indra J Piliang from Kalla's campaign team said on Friday that the producer of the commercials must face legal charges.
"By SBY saying his team had no affiliation with the ads, we can assume the producer has broken the law," he said.
"The Presidential Election Law clearly states that only official team members listed by the General Elections Commission *KPU* are permitted to launch advertising campaigns," he added.
Bambang Eka, a member of the Elections Supervisory Committee, confirmed that campaign-related advertisements could only be broadcast by official campaign teams.
"The substance of these advertisements was of no concern. But such ads can only be aired by candidates' campaign teams," Bambang told The Jakarta Post.
The campaign, launched by the Democracy Study Institute (LSD), has appeared extensively on television, radio, in print media and online news portals, as well as leaflets and posters.
The institute is headed by Denny JA who has a business affiliation with the SBY-Boediono team.
Previously Denny said his other organization, the Indonesia Survey Circle (LSI), had conducted a survey for the team.
However, on Friday Denny told reporters that LSI was not part of the official Yudhoyono campaign team.
"As members of the public, we have the right to express our opinions about the candidate we think is the best," he said. (bbs/hdt)
