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Despite the tendency of presidential candidates Jusuf Kalla and Megawati Sukarnoputri to attack incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in their campaigns, the latter’s supporters have no plan to file complaints to the Election Supervisory Commission.

“We won’t be filing any lawsuit,” Rizal Malarangeng, spokesman for the Yudhoyono-Boediono campaign team, said on Monday.

Rizal said that on two occasions, Kalla and Megawati have attempted to discredit Yudhoyono and his running mate, Boediono.

Artist Butet Kertaredjasa, speaking for the Megawati-Prabowo camp during the May 10 pledge for a peaceful campaign and election, had insinuated that Yudhoyono owed his presidency to Megawati.

In the speech, Butet said that Yudhoyono “should say thank you to Megawati Sukarnoputri who was responsible for ensuring successful elections in 2004 which helped Yudhoyono be elected president.”

A rebuttal by presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng was then seen as an attempt to muzzle freedom of expression.

“All of that is not true,” Rizal said. “The SBY-Boediono pairing has never suppressed the citizens’ freedom to express themselves.”

Kalla, still Yudhoyono’s vice president, has also attempted to belittle the president. Talking about the historical peace pact with Aceh rebels in Helsinki in 2005 that ended almost three decades of violent separatist conflict there, Kalla claimed that he was the main figure behind the negotiations with the Free Aceh Movement while Yudhoyono had remained overwhelmingly silent.

Rizal said in regard to Aceh, “a president is the highest leader of the government, not the vice president. So if Mr. Kalla said he initiated the Helsinki pact, he was only doing so as part of the broader government strategy for peace in Aceh.”

However, Rizal said that these “disturbing” campaign tactics would not be reported to the supervisory commission, also known as Bawaslu.

“We won’t be complaining to Bawaslu. All we want is that every candidate campaigns politely and avoids manipulating and politicizing the issues,” Rizal said.

Regulations governing the presidential elections forbids candidates from humiliating or insulting other candidates during the campaign period.

Spokesman for the Kalla-Wiranto campaign team, Johan Silalahi, said that Kalla’s statement on the Aceh peace treaty was true.

“If Kalla was talking without any evidence, than people may have a right to be angry … but there is plenty of evidence for his role in Aceh. Ask anyone involved in the peace talks, they will tell which figure played the most active part.”

Ganjar Pranowo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said Yudhoyono’s camp should not get offended so easily.