Election Participants Are Allowed To Campaign On Campus, JK: Good For Political Education

JAKARTA - Vice President for the 2004 '2009 period and the 2014'2019 period Muhammad Jusuf Kalla assessed that the decision of the Constitutional Court (MK) which allowed campaigns in universities or campuses in the 2024 General Election was an advancement from the democratic system in Indonesia.

"There has been a good change that candidates (presidential and vice-presidential candidates) can enter campus because they were not allowed to. Now they are busy talking on campus, but only universities," said JK when he was the keynote speaker in the General Election Public dialogue for Who? The People and the State are Where? at Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, Saturday, October 14.

JK stated that this was not only an event for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, but also as an event for students to learn about political science.

"In the past, it was thought that when I entered campus, I would make a fuss, it turned out to be safe, it was actually good for education in campus to find out real politics. On campus, political theories were taught, but real politics was from there the election democracy," he said.

Previously, Tuesday, August 15, the Constitutional Court (MK) had decided to allow election participants to campaign in government and educational facilities (schools and campuses) as long as they do not use campaign attributes. This was included in the Constitutional Court Decision Number 65/PUU-XXI/2023.

Responding to the Constitutional Court's decision, BawasluRI Puadi members explained that there were two campaign requirements on campus for the 2024 election participants.

The first requirement, said Puadi, is that the campaign on campus must be based on an invitation or permission from the rector or organizer.

"So, it is not the wish of prospective participants (elections) to come to campus, but rather to be invited by the rector or by the organizers. The point is to be invited by the rector," said Puadi while conducting Participatory Supervision Socialization with Students in West Java, Friday, September 8.

The second condition, he continued, was that the election participants who were invited to the campus did not bring campaign attributes or campaign props (APK). "You can campaign on campus. However, there must be permission from the chancellor, and the second must not carry attributes," said Puadi.

Puadi said the campaign stage was 75 days, from November 28, 2023 to February 10, 2024. On that occasion, Puadi also invited students to participate in monitoring participatorys to ensure that the 2024 General Election had more integrity.

"If there is inequality that occurs, immediately participate, report it to the local village head. It is a form of student responsibility to oversee elections with integrity," he said.