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Ahok volunteers report KPU Jakarta head for ethics violations
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Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama salutes his volunteers in a campaign fundraising event in Jakarta on Nov. 27. (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja)
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volunteer group backing incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in Jakarta’s gubernatorial election has reported the head of the General Elections Commission in Jakarta (KPU Jakarta) for alleged ethics violations.
Yuliana Zahara Mega, the chairwoman of volunteer group Cinta Ahok, reported KPU Jakarta head Sumarno to the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) on Thursday for a series of alleged incidents indicating the KPU Jakarta head favored the rival candidate.
“We have reported the KPU Jakarta head because we deem him not neutral. It began with our concern that the KPU Jakarta head uploaded a photo of the ‘212 protest’ to his WhatsApp profile,” Yuliana said, referring to a massive protest driven by conservative Muslim groups on Dec. 2, 2016 and pushing for the prosecution of Ahok over remarks they consider blasphemous.
Yuliana added that the second incident occurred during the revote at a polling station in Kalibata, South Jakarta, on Feb. 19, when Sumarno met the candidate Anies Baswedan.
On March 4, Sumarno’s neutrality again came under scrutiny after he allegedly delayed the start of a plenary meeting to announce the runoff. Yuliana said Sumarno had postponed the event because he had had dinner with the other candidate.
Yuliana’s lawyer Daya Perwira Dalimi said the series of incidents showed that Sumarno might have violated Articles 10 and 14 of a 2012 regulation on the code of conduct of election organizers.
