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'Blank box' to compete with sole candidates
Jakarta Post - February 1, 2017
This year, 11 regions are set to see candidates run uncontested in the 2017 regional elections, which will be held simultaneously on Feb. 15 in 101 cities, regencies and provinces across the country. The term "blank box" is derived from the balloting system introduced in 2016 by the General Elections Commissions (KPU), which allowed voters who rejected the sole candidate to instead vote for a blank box on the ballot.
In Central Java, blank box communities are grouped under the Pati Election Democracy Monitoring Alliance led by Sutiyo. The group was formed as a response to the Pati regency election ballot having only one option, namely incumbent Haryanto and his running mate Saiful Arifin, a ticket backed by eight political parties.
"This sole candidate situation has proved that regeneration within political parties does not work," Sutiyo told The Jakarta Post. "Despite this, many people in Pati don't know that they can choose to vote for the blank box if they don't want to vote for the sole candidate. That's what we've been trying to do."
However, it was not easy for Sutiyo and members of his group to campaign for blank box as they had to go door-to-door and use social media to spread the message to communities.
"We previously planned to organize ketoprak [traditional Javanese theater] to promote this movement. However, the police didn't issue the permit," Sutiyo said, adding that his group had also tried to recruit university students.
"We don't encourage people to be golput [abstainers]. We are just showing that people have the right to choose the blank box," Sutiyo said, adding that the members collected money to fund the group's activities.
Should the blank box win, KPU commissioner Juri Ardianto said that the KPU would hold another election. "We still don't know the procedure for moving forward with the election should the blank box win. This has not been specifically regulated in our laws. The lawmakers should further discuss this," Juri said, adding that to avoid an administrative vacuum, the government could appoint acting leaders in the respective regions.
A blank box group also exists in Landak regency, West Kalimantan, as Karolin Margret Natasa and incumbent deputy regent Heriyadi are the sole candidate pair.
The movement, called Pilih Kotak Kosong (Choose the Blank Box), has run its activities underground through word-of-mouth, such as through conversations in coffee shops, said Maskendari, who represents the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) at the West Kalimantan Legislative Council. "They haven't carried out an open campaign. Rather, the movement is promoted through word-ofmouth in daily conversations," Maskendari said, adding that he had no idea who was behind it.
In Papua, an expert at Cendrawasih University, Marinus Yang, criticized political parties for not listening to the people since there was only one option on the ballot for the Jayapura mayoral election, namely Benhur Tomi Mano and Haji Rustan Saru.
A blank box campaign also exists in Central Maluku, where an organization called the Central Maluku People's Democracy Coalition has encouraged residents to vote for the blank box, instead of for incumbent regent Abua Tuasikal and deputy regent Marlatu Leleuri.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/02/01/blank-box-to-compete-with-sole-candidates.html.
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