Bawaslu Asks Political Parties to Not Violate Campaign Time

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) commissioner Muhammad Afifuddin appealed election participants not to conduct campaign through the media before the specified time. The notice was issued following the alleged violations of three media under MNC Group which airing advertisement of the United Indonesia Party (Perindo).

"We have done dissemination for media to not presenting ads before the campaign schedule, especially broadcasting media," Afifuddin said on Thursday, March 8.

Bawaslu has established a joint task force of KPI (Indonesian Broadcasting Commission) and Press Council to prevent off-the-clock campaign violations. The campaign is scheduled to start on September 23, 2018. "We‘ve managed the campaign will be allowed until 21 days before the quiet phase," he said.

Read: Bawaslu to Question Perindo over Campaign Time Violation

Earlier, Bawaslu conducted a socialization regarding prevention over campaign violations at Sari Pan Pacific Hotel, Jakarta. However, KPI reported GTV, RCTI and iNews TV under MNC Group allegedly violated the rules by airing several advertisements of Perindo Party advertisements on March 2, 2018. 

Bawaslu has summoned the editor-in-chief for clarification yesterday, yet they were not present. "We want to ask for clarification of people who asked for the advertisement to be aired," he said. The second call was immediately made.

Tempo attempted to gain confirmation from MNC Group regarding the summon by Bawaslu. However, MNC Group Corporate Secretary has yet responded to the phone calls and messages from Tempo.

Imam Hamdi