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Regional heads urged to avoid racial, religious issues during campaigning
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Clean politics: Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo (right) receives a poster emblazoned with an anti-money politics message from Central Java Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) head Abhan Misbah (left) in a coordinating meeting in Semarang, Central Java, on Nov. 8. (Antara/Harviyan Perdana Putra)
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entral Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo has called on all regional head candidates in the province to carry out ethical and well-behaved campaigns, during which they should avoid issues relating to religion and race.
“All campaign team members also must pay close attention to proper etiquette during campaigning. Let’s maintain the solidity of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia, put forward our work programs and restrain ourselves from using dirty words,” Ganjar said, Tuesday.
He was speaking during a coordinating meeting with political experts focused on the 2017 regional elections, held by the Central Java Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) in Semarang.
Ganjar said it was hoped all candidates could highlight issues related to infrastructure development in their respective regions during their campaign. They should also hold clean campaigns, adhere to good governance, and promote women’s and child protection, as well as poverty reduction, he said.
“If they don’t highlight such concerns, I hope General Elections Commission [KPU] officials ask them to elaborate on those issues during candidate debates,” said Ganjar.
The governor also reminded all civil servants in the Central Java administration to remain neutral in the elections.
According to data, 6,439,931 voters from 13,834 polling stations will exercise their democratic rights during simultaneous elections in seven regencies and municipalities across Central Java on Feb. 15. Seventeen candidate pairs will run for regional heads in the elections.
The candidates in the running comprise four pairs in Batang, three pairs each in Banjarnegara and Cilacap, whereas Brebes, Jepara and Salatiga have two pairs, respectively. Meanwhile in Pati, only one candidate pair had put up their hands for election. (ebf)
