The prohibition is laid out in the latest regulation the KPU issued on Wednesday to revise a previous regulation that allowed rallies and concerts, which might have become sources of coronavirus transmission.

The new policy allows only online events on social media and video conferencing platforms during the campaign period, which begins on Saturday and lasts until a few days before voting day.

The new regulation also tightens social-distancing rules and health measures, which will apply throughout the campaign season and until the election on Dec. 9 to determine 270 regional leaders, including nine governors.

Candidates and members of their supporting political parties and campaign teams who violate the regulation will receive warnings from the KPU. The Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) will report them to the police if they repeat the violation. The new policy grants Bawaslu the power to disband any campaign activities in violation of social-distancing rules.

The regulation follows a mandate from the government and lawmakers to revise the KPU regulation on Monday in order to prevent the spread of the disease during the elections. The government and lawmakers have defended holding the elections despite opposition from the public on the grounds that the outbreak was still under control.

“We hope the regulation is sufficient to prevent the public, election organizers and candidates from contracting the COVID-19 disease during [the campaign period],” KPU commissioner I Dewa Kade Wiarsa Raka Sandi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The public outcry was amplified after Bawaslu found that 243 prospective candidates had violated health protocol by bringing large entourages when registering their candidacy at regional KPU offices from Sept. 4 to Sept. 6.

The KPU prohibited prospective candidates, campaign teams and supporters from coming to regional KPU offices on Tuesday, when they announced who was eligible to run in the December polls -- a move Dewa described as a success in preventing crowds from flocking to those offices.

By Thursday night, the agency has so far declared 630 of 743 prospective candidates eligible to compete in the polls so far, including President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is running for Surakarta mayor, and the President’s son-in-law, Bobby Nasution, for Medan mayor.

“[By issuing the regulation] we hope there will be no mass gatherings like during the candidate registration period during the campaign period,” Dewa said.

Some political parties have expressed their commitment to comply with the new health rules, promising to push their candidates to prioritize virtual forms of campaigning and to be disciplined in applying the protocol.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which is backing 256 candidates, would punish party members who violated health protocols with stages of sanctions, said PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto.

Meanwhile, Gerindra Party executive Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said the party would adhere to the new regulations.

Constitutional law expert Feri Amsari from Padang-based Andalas University said the new regulation provided a sufficient legal basis to force candidates to comply with the new rules.

But a coalition of 13 NGOs, including election watchdog the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) and Network for Democracy and Electoral Integrity (Netgrit), once again urged the government to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to detail the new health rules.

They said a Perppu that would revise the prevailing Regional Elections Law would provide a stronger legal basis for authorities to take action against health protocol violators.

“Revising the KPU regulation alone is not enough; the government should amend the law [by issuing a Perppu],” they said in a statement.