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Early election campaigning draws ire in pandemic-stricken Indonesia
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This aerial photograph shows the graves of COVID-19 victims at the Rorotan cemetery in Jakarta on Aug. 4. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
W
hile the nation’s elections are still three years away, some prospective candidates seem to be seeking a head start as campaign billboards pop up in major cities, a move that has been criticized as tone-deaf amid the country’s continuing struggles with COVID-19.
Both Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Puan Maharani, whose electability and popularity in national polls remain low despite their elite standing in two of the country’s biggest political parties, have appeared on such roadside media.
Painted in the party’s distinctive yellow color, billboards with portraits of Airlangga and stamped with the year 2024 – the next election year – have appeared in Central Java, East Java, South Sulawesi, Bogor and Bekasi over the past few weeks. They bear the slogan “working for Indonesia”.
Airlangga, in his capacity as the coordinating economic minister, is responsible for leading efforts to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus outside Java and Bali.
Red billboards depicting Puan, meanwhile, carry the slogan “the flapping of the wings of diversity”. They have been found in East Java, Central Java and Yogyakarta.
Other posters feature Democratic Party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar and Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto.
Read also: Potential candidates for 2024 presidential run eye ‘likes’ on social media
