Ganjar Appears In Tiyangan Azan, House Of Representatives Commission II: There Is No Prohibition But About Ethics That Has TV

Ganjar Pranowo (Photo via Central Java Provincial Government)

JAKARTA - Chairman of Commission II of the DPR Ahmad Doli Kurnia responded to the hectic pros and cons of the PDI-P (PDIP) presidential candidate, Ganjar Pranowo, who appeared on the call to prayer on a private television show.

Doli said, there are no rules that prohibit but there are ethical issues for the broadcast. "Just about ethics. In terms of regulations, actually no one prohibits it, right. But then it's an ethical matter, it should be the TV who owns it, you have to consider it," said Doli at the DPR Building, Monday, September 11.

Moreover, said Doli, there was a call not to make places of worship a forum for campaigning. "Now people are busy, they say they can't campaign in houses of worship, that's roughly the case. But that's if the call to prayer is related to worship. So ethically it must be considered, even though there are no legal rules that are then violated if there is a problem," he added. In addition, Doni assessed, the call to prayer showing featuring Ganjar is the same as having preceded the campaign time. Moreover, the television owner is the general chairman of Ganjar's supporting political parties.

"Yes, that's right, before being appointed as a presidential candidate and before Perindo supported Pak Ganjar, there was no call to prayer, right? The azan happened after Perindo supported Pak Ganjar. And Perindo, because you do have television, in terms of a legitimate campaign, that's their instrument. But yes, it should be considered ethically, because it has something to do with worship," said Doli.

Previously, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) had written to a TV station showing PDIP presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo in the call to prayer broadcast. KPI is also conducting a study of the incident and will ask for clarification from TV stations.

KPI Commissioner for Supervision of Broadcast Content Aliyah said the letter had been sent and was just waiting for a response from the TV station.

"We have sent it to the broadcasting agency (TV station), just waiting for a time response from the broadcasting agency," said Aliyah, Sunday, September 10.