T

he #2019GantiPresiden (Change the President 2019)campaign is once again in the spotlight, after the hashtag’s appearance caused the second official debate of the West Java gubernatorial election to end in disarray on Monday night.

The debate seemed to be going swimmingly until the third candidate pair started to make its closing statements.

Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil and House of Representatives member Tubagus Hasanuddin and their running mates gave their final speeches without a hitch.

Then retired general Sudrajat and Bekasi Deputy Mayor Ahmad Syaikhu, who are backed by the opposition coalition of the Gerindra Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), took the stage.

Sudrajat started off normally enough, expressing his love for the people of West Java and saying that, if elected, he would use his experience as a former ambassador to help make the province more prosperous.

Things went off the rails when, to a mix of jeers and cheers from the crowd, Sudrajat said: “If Asyik [Sudrajat-Ahmad Syaikhu] wins, God willing, we will change presidents in 2019!”

Ahmad then whipped out a T-shirt bearing the words: “2018 Asyik Wins, 2019 Change of President,” drawing even louder boos from the audience, particularly from supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)-backed pair of Tubagus and Anton Charliyan. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is endorsed by the PDI-P.

The #2019GantiPresiden campaign first gained traction in early April, after PKS secretary-general Mardani Ali Sera distributed rubber bracelets with the hashtag in a TV show.

T-shirts with the hashtag are now available at numerous online and offline stores. The campaign made headlines at the end of last month, when a group of anti-Jokowi activists wore the T-shirts during the regular Sunday morning Car Free Day event in Jakarta.

The Sudrajat-Ahmad Syaikhu pair’s use of the slogan and the ensuing disorder saw the debate halted for around nine minutes, as the crowd would not quiet down enough for incumbent West Java Deputy Governor Deddy Mizwar and Purwakarta Regent Dedi Mulyadi to give their closing statements.

Debate presenters Alfito Deannova and Anisha Dasuki tried valiantly to placate the crowd and repeatedly asked for calm.

“Can we end this event calmly, ladies and gentlemen?” Alfito said. “We are being watched by West Java, Indonesia and the world, and this is the kind of image we would like to avoid.”

Both Tubagus and West Java General Elections Commission (KPU) head Yayat Hidayat also tried to calm the crowd, saying the matter could be resolved after the debate.

In the end, Dedi Mulyadi closed the debate with a series of pantuns (four-line rhyming poetry) that took the heat out of the situation.

Political observers and elections analysts said Sudrajat and Ahmad’s stunt was unnecessary and improper.

“It is very unethical to use that kind of prop in a public debate that already has a fixed theme and topic,” Padjajaran University political science lecturer Idil Akbar said on Tuesday. “They could have chosen to be more ethical and used their closing statement to say that they were the best choice, instead of what they did last night.”

Former KPU commissioner Hadar Navis Gumay said Sudrajat-Ahmad had used the slogan “in the wrong place, at the wrong time,” albeit not technically violating any rules.

“I cannot say that what they did is not allowed, but they probably should have restrained themselves,” he said. “To avoid this happening in the future, the KPU should stipulate in the debating rules that candidates stick to their programs and their vision and mission.”

West Java Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) head Harminus Koto said the agency would review the incident to determine whether there were any administrative or other violations.

Meanwhile, Asyik campaign manager Haru Suandharu defended the pair’s action, saying it was a form of freedom of expression that was guaranteed by the Constitution.

He added that many West Java residents had expressed a desire for a regime change in 2019.

“As candidates to lead West Java, we are obligated to give a voice to [their aspirations],” he said.