VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The campaign period for the participants in the 2019 General Elections that began in September 2018 for about 7 months has ended. The General Election Commission -KPU stipulates April 14-16 is the quiet period of the 2019 General Elections.  The election participants are prohibited from campaigning in any form during the quiet period. They can be sanctioned if they violate the rules stipulated through the General Election Commission Law and Regulation (PKPU). What are the rules for the quiet period for the election participants?Based on the Election Law No. 7/2017, during the quiet period, the organizers, participants, and election campaign teams of the president and vice president are prohibited from promising or giving rewards to voters: not exercising their rights to vote, choosing candidates, choosing certain political parties and selecting certain candidates for DPR / DPRD / DPD. This is stated in Article 278 of the Election Law No. 7/2017.Then based on Article 523 paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 278 paragraph (2) of the Election Law, those who violate will be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 4 years and a maximum fine of Rp. 48 million. Based on the rules, the KPU regulates the prohibition on campaigning on social media. The ban is contained in Article 53 paragraph (4) PKPU No. 23/2018.The Election Supervisory Board -Bawaslu will oversee campaigns on social media during the quiet period. Bawaslu collaborates with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics to oversee advertisements on social media.During the quiet period, the election participants or partisans are prohibited from disseminating a person's track record or image. If there is an illegal campaign, there are two sanctions that will be imposed: Election administrative sanctions and criminal sanctions. Bawaslu's Commissioner, Fritz Edwar Siregar said that he would immediately send a letter to the social media platform not to accept any form of advertisement during the quiet period.The campaign period for more than 7 months which has consumed energy, thoughts and strategies and even the finance of the people involved is certainly enough to attract and convince the potential voters to choose presidential and vice-presidential candidates as well as candidates for legislative members. Thus, this quiet period must not be harmed with non-commendable actions that can damage the values of honesty and justice in the 2019 General Elections.