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Latest Ahok-Djarot campaign ads draw criticism
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Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama woos voters in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, on Nov. 15, 2016 as he makes a bid for a second term in the following year’s gubernatorial election. The police had just begun the case screening of the blasphemy allegations made against Ahok. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
J
akarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and his running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat have found themselves facing criticism after their recently released campaign advertising was accused of raising race issues.
A hashtag, #KampanyeAhokJahat, was used in Twitter shortly after a two-minute video ad went viral on Sunday. The video was uploaded by Ahok onto his Twitter account followed with a caption: #beragamItuBasukiDjarot (Basuki and Djarot are diverse).
In the video that allegedly depicts a 1998 riot, a group of seemingly angry men pounce on a car, trapping the driver and her daughter inside. The next scene showed a group of men in Muslim attire carrying a sign reading "Ganyang Cina" (crush Chinese), while the city is in riot.
Afterwards a badminton player of Chinese descent was shown on the screen while Djarot's voice was heard in the background urging Jakartan residents to vote, no matter their race, ethnicity, or religion (SARA).
(Read also: Ahok focuses on online campaign in second round)
One Jakartan who objected to the video was Gerindra lawmaker Rachel Maryam whose party supports Ahok's challenger, Anies Baswedan. "Its the most racist campaign ad using the SARA issue and playing victim. Provocative," she said via her twitter account.
A group of lawyers calling themselves Advokat Cinta Tanah Air is also planning to file a report against the video to the Election Supervisory Commission on Monday, claiming that it had hurt Islam. (idb/wit)
