yance (calon gubernur jawa barat)

Voters in Indramayu are threatened with hellfire unless the Golkar Party is supported in 2009.

The Regent of Indramayu in West Java, Irianto MS Syafiuddin (Yance) recently appeared photographed in an election advertisement in several local newspapers, alongside vice-president Jusuf Kalla, that contained a threat:

The people of Indramayu are asked to keep supporting the leaders of Indramayu and the Golkar Party. If not then we [Indramayu people] can be considered as insulting God, his prophet, and Muslims.

The signature of Jusuf Kalla was printed at the bottom of the ad, although it is not clear if it was genuine. [1]

The ad.

The ad was quickly condemned by, among others, hardline
and conservative Muslim groups such as Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) and Front Pembela Islam (FPI), with some calling for him to be prosecuted. FPI leader Ahmad Sobri Lubi (of hate speech fame) thundered:

This is blasphemy against God, the prophet, and the Islamic religion.

Irianto issued an apology several days after the controversy erupted, and said the advertisement was none of his doing and that he had no knowledge of its contents previously.

Irianto MS Syafiuddin was elected Regent in 2005, carrying 67% of the vote for Golkar, and at the time chairman of the national parliament, Agung Laksono, lauded him as one of Golkar's finest men.

He has a history of annoying Islamic pressure groups and putting his religious foot in it. In May of 2005, after his election victory, about 4000 copies of the Quran were distributed free to schools, which contained a photo of the Regent inside the cover. [2]

Irianto is also well known for having come up with the idea of virginity testing for schoolgirls, in 2007.