TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The head of Riau Islands General Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) Zuhadril Putra affirmed that Bawaslu's action was lawful in taking down Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka's banner installed on the Welcome to Batam icon.

Earlier, Prabowo-Gibran's regional campaigning team reported the head of Bawaslu of Riau Islands and Batam City to Barelang city police on Monday. The report referred to alleged damage to the banner.

Zuhadril said that the permits obtained by Prabowo-Gibran's team from the Batam city government were not a justification for breaching general elections regulations. "This could be a learning lesson for regional governments to understand deeper about general elections regulation (before releasing any permits)," he said.

Bawaslu will remain steadfast in enforcing the regulations, Zuhadril said. He asked not only for the running candidates but also for regional governments to acknowledge general election regulations.

"We hope everyone could become acquaintances with the regulations, so things like this will not happen," he said.

Zuhadril also stressed that his side did not damage the banner in any way. "The banner was folded and stored, but Prabowo-Gibran's team has not reached out to me," he added.

YOGI EKA SAHPUTRA

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