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Calls for peaceful elections amid increasing violence
With little time left before the cooling-off period starts on Sunday, observers are calling on candidates and election organizers to push for peaceful elections to prevent politically fueled clashes that could cause even further democratic backsliding.
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Deputy Women's Empowerment and Children's Protection Minister Veronica Tan (center) and Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) chair Rahmat Bagja (second left) march on Nov. 17, 2024, with volunteers and officials to campaign for peaceful 2024 simultaneous regional elections, in Jakarta. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
A series of recent alleged politically motivated violent acts surrounding candidates and their supporters have raised concerns about the potential for conflict that would mar the simultaneous regional elections ahead of the voting day on Wednesday.
With little time left before the cooling-off period starts on Sunday, observers are calling on candidates and election organizers to push for peaceful elections to prevent politically fueled clashes that could cause even further democratic backsliding.
The recent violent acts were observed in multiple election debates held by the regional offices of the General Elections Commission (KPU), with more than a dozen of the events ending up in fist fights or brawls that resulted in injuries.
On Tuesday, the final election debate for Aceh gubernatorial candidates was cut short after supporters of candidate Muzakir Manaf, who was nominated by the local Aceh Party, stormed the stage while his rival Bustami Hamzah addressed the audience.
The brawl took place two months after two unidentified individuals threw a grenade into Bustami’s private residence in the Syiah Kuala district of provincial capital Banda Aceh. The attack damaged a part of the house.
On Wednesday, another debate for the Bandung regency election in West Java was halted for an hour after supporters of the two candidate pairs quarreled during a commercial break. The two groups reportedly mocked each other before the fight.
