Paper Edition | Page: 9
Despite the circulation of rumors of
fraud and clashes on election day, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen.
Untung S. Rajab concluded the election was “safe and secure, with
no significant security threats”.
“There are lots of false information
going around during the election. None of it is correct, and up to
now we have yet to receive any reports of fraud or riots,” he said
in a press conference on Thursday evening.
Several rumors were spread on Thursday,
including a falsehood about a clash between political supporters in
Kuningan, South Jakarta, and an alleged instance of campaign fraud in
Tambora, West Jakarta.
In Tambora, according to messages
circulating on the Internet and cell phones, voters were forbidden
from voting by their neighborhood unit leaders as the ballots had
already been marked in favor a certain candidate. The two cases were
only rumors, Untung said.
In Pancoran, South Jakarta, a
suspicious bag, allegedly containing a bomb, was found under an
overpass at noon. The bomb squad sent to the site found only several
pieces of underwear and snacks inside.
“Such information was likely spread
by people with a lack of conscience and not by any of the candidates’
campaign teams,” he said.
Untung called on candidates’
supporters to settle any possible dissatisfaction with the election’s
result through the courts or dialogue rather than resorting to any
actions that breached the law.
Separately, the Jakarta Election
Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu Jakarta) reported a man to the
Jakarta Police for spreading flyers containing black campaign
material.
Panwaslu Jakarta chairman Ramdansyah
said the man, SS, allegedly distributed pamphlets around the Gunung
Sahari area in Central Jakarta on Wednesday night when a member of
gubernatorial candidate Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s campaign team
passed by the area and reported the man to the poll supervisor.
The pamphlets, according to Ramdansyah,
contained black campaign materials targeting Jokowi that had mostly
been gathered from the Internet.
“The man has been detained at the
Gambir Police station,” he said.
SS, who just hailed from Pati, Central
Java, said he was set up by two men who offered him Rp 1.5 million
(US$158) to help them distribute the flyers.
The police are still looking for the
two men.
Election day was also marked by various
promotional offers from businesses throughout the capital.
PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, for
instance, offered a 50 percent discount for Jakartans participating
in the election to enter the Dunia Fantasi (Dufan) amusement park,
Ocean Dream Samudra and Atlantis Water Adventure water park at its
leisure complex. Normally, visitors have to pay Rp 265,000 to enjoy
attractions in Dufan and Rp 111,000 for both Samudra and Atlantis.
To qualify for the discount, Jakartans
only needed to show their ink-marked fingers, as proof that they had
cast their votes.
“The promo is to appreciate and to
support the election while giving families an option to spend their election day off together,”
said YJ Harwanto, head of corporate planning at PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, as quoted by kompas.com.
(aml)
