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KPU Jakarta head denies accusations
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Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) chairman Sumarno speaks to journalists at City Hall, Jakarta, on June 15. (kompas.com/Kurnia Sari Aziza)
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akarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) head Sumarno has denied accusations he violated the election organizer’s code of conduct, as alleged by the volunteers of incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who reported him to the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) on Thursday.
Sumarno, for instance, is said to have failed to remain neutral by using a photo of the “212 protest”, a large protest demanding the prosecution of Ahok on Dec 2, 2016, as his Whatsapp profile picture.
Sumarno said he uploaded the photo a long time ago.
The rally, which was attended by the President, the vice president, the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander, the police chief, the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, was not related to the election, he said.
“The event looked good from Monas [National Monument]. The photo has nothing to do with [my] independency or neutrality,” Sumarno said at his office in Salemba, Central Jakarta, on Thursday.
He also denied accusations that he breached the code of conduct by meeting with Ahok’s rival candidate, Anies Baswedan, during a revote in a polling station in Kalibata, South Jakarta, on Feb 19.
“The meeting was accidental. It also occurred in an open space,” he said.
Sumarno then refuted the accusation that he had postponed a plenary meeting to announce the runoff on March 4 because he had dinner with Anies.
He denied having dinner with Anies.
