As the race for November’s regional elections heats up, competing candidates appear to be pulling out all the stops to ensure a favorable outcome, with some even resorting to exploiting sexist narratives that observers describe as a “serious problem” in Indonesian politics.
Political parties must do better in vetting and educating their cadres on social values, including the importance of gender equality and women’s participation in politics, or risk jeopardizing the country’s democracy, the observers further warned following various reports of anti-women narratives in regional election campaigns.
Sleman, Yogyakarta regental candidate Harda Kiswaya and his running mate Danang Maharsa recently drew criticism as a photograph of his campaign poster made the rounds on the internet.
The poster showcased the pair’s portrait with text in Javanese roughly translating to “Why would you pick a woman to be your imam? Don’t do it, please. An imam must be a man.” Imam is an Arabic term referring to a man who leads prayers, or simply a leader.
After receiving disapproval online, the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) backed regental candidate told reporters that he was not involved in the decision-making process of the campaign but assured that the controversial poster had been taken down.
Read also: East Java election: All-women race for NU votes
Harda is contesting against incumbent Kustini Sri Purnomo from the National Mandate Party (PAN), who is the first female regent in Sleman.
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