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‘Blank box’ supporters in Pati angry over removal of banners
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Vote for the blank box! Supporters of the Alliance to Safeguard Democracy in the Pati Election attend a recent rally to call on people to vote against the sole ticket in the Pati regental election. (JP/Suherdjoko)
P
eople in support of voting against the sole candidate pair of Haryanto-Saiful Arifin in the regental election in Pati, Central Java, have expressed frustration at the repeated removal of their street banners and billboards advising people how to do so.
Sutiyo, head of the Alliance to Safeguard Democracy in the Pati Election, said Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officers kept removing banners and billboards that promoted the blank box, which will appear next to the picture of the sole ticket on ballots.
“We’re get pressure from both the bureaucracy and election organizers in Pati each time we promote the idea,” said Sutiyo on Wednesday.
He presented pictures showing Satpol PP officers taking down banners promoting the blank box across Juwana.
The banners were emblazoned with messages encouraging the people of Pati to choose the blank box. “Blank Box Fighters: Let’s make the Pati election successful. Avoid Golput. Choose the blank box,” they read. Several billboards carried the message “Avoid Golput. Choose the blank box.”
Golput refers to people who consciously choose not to participate in an election.
The "blank box movement" emerged in protest against the Pati election, which only offers Haryanto-Saiful as the sole candidate pair. The pair is backed by a coalition of eight political parties, namely the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), the Gerindra Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Democratic Party, the Golkar Party, the Hanura Party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). (ebf)
