Jakarta – The Urban Poor Network (JRMK) held a demonstration in front of the Jakarta provincial National Elections Commission (KPU) offices on Monday morning, September 23, supporting the three-candidate ticket movement or golput (to abstain from voting or invalidate the ballot paper) in the 2024 Jakarta election or election of regional heads on November 27.
JRMK Coordinator Minawati stated that the election does not represent the aspirations of the Jakarta people.
"Today we are articulating the disappointment of the urban poor and the people of Jakarta, where this year's election does not side with the people or doesn't represent the aspirations of the people", said Minawati front of the Jakarta KPU office Monday.
Minawati said the JRMK has studied the three electoral tickets that have been put forward in the Jakarta elections. She believes that there is not one candidate among them who represents or cares about the aspirations of the people.
"We have already declared a position of not choosing either three of them. There is no trust and there are none that represent the interests of the ordinary people", she said.
Minawati said that the many of problems experienced by urban kampungs (villages) in Jakarta have not been resolved. She stated that movement is aimed at making the Jakarta people aware that the state of democracy in Indonesia is not okay.
Minawati also invited the Jakartan people to still go to polling stations (TPS) but mark all three electoral tickets so the ballot is invalid.
"We're not forcing it. We're just inviting [people], but not using coercion. If we use coercion, we threaten [people] or give money, that's a (criminal) act. Thus we're not threatening [people]", she said.
Based on Article 515 of the Election Law (Law), someone who forces others to golput can be prosecuted if they provide rewards in the form of money or goods. The punishment can be as severe as three years in prison and a fine of up to 36 million rupiah.
Article 515 reads, "Any person who deliberately at the time of voting promises to or gives money or other goods to voters so as they not to use their voting rights or vote for a certain election participant or use their voting rights in a certain way so that the ballot paper is invalid, is subject to a maximum prison sentence of 3 (three) years and a maximum fine of Rp 36,000,000.00 (thirty-six million rupiah)". (men/kid)
Notes
Golput or Golongan Putih (White Group) is term that first emerged as a campaign by students in the 1971 elections and derives its name from marking the white section of the ballot paper rather than a party symbol or candidate's picture thereby making the vote invalid. In recent years the term has broadened to include not just intentionally casting an invalid vote but also vote abstention. The "mark all three candidates" movement was initially launched by supporters of former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan known as Anak Abah (Father's Children) as a form of protest that Baswedan, despite being a frontrunner in many polls, failed to obtain the backing of any political parties and will be unable to run in the election.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was " Jaringan Miskin Kota Demo Suarakan Golput di PIlgub DKI".]
