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Gubernatorial candidates soft-pedal on first day of campaign
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The candidates for the upcoming 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election show off their ballot numbers at JIEXPO Kemayoran in Central Jakarta on Oct. 25. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
T
he election campaign started on Friday, but Jakarta’s gubernatorial candidates continue to move slowly, as though they want to conserve their energy for what promises to be a dramatic and lengthy campaign. The campaign period lasts from Oct. 28 to Feb. 11, 2017, and voting day is scheduled for Feb. 15, 2017.
Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has said he has not been informed by his campaign team about his schedule.
“It seems as though my campaign didn’t begin on Friday,” said Ahok, who handed over his office temporarily to an acting governor on Wednesday.
But Ahok’s running mate, Djarot Saiful Hidayat, was scheduled to meet with residents in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, after Friday prayers.
There are three candidate pairs in the Jakarta gubernatorial election: Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni, Ahok-Djarot and Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno.
Most of the time, candidates and their campaign teams have to organize their own events because the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) has only scheduled six open campaign rallies for the four-month campaign.
On Thursday, Anies was still in Yogyakarta to get permission from his mother before starting his campaign on Friday.
“Tomorrow I will return to Jakarta after meeting with my mother, asking her to pray for me,” Anies said in Yogyakarta on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Agus and Sylviana only engaged in internal activities on Friday morning. Agus went to Friday prayers at the Sunda Kemapa Mosque in Menteng, Central Jakarta. (bbn)
