Noticias

With the country’s main opposition party seemingly headed for victory in both the legislative election on Wednesday and the presidential election on July 9, observers say the euphoria needs to be tempered by a rational look back at its track record in government.

Ade Irawan, the coordinator of Indonesia Corruption Watch, said on Friday that voters were quickly forgetting the “colorful past and track record” of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) when its chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, was president from 2001 to 2004.

Democratic Party executive chairman Syarief Hasan flat-out denied that party chairman President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had used state facilities to support the party’s campaign, which would be a violation of election regulations.

Therefore, he said, Yudhoyono did not need to attend the General Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) in order to clarify the allegation.

“There was no violation and it has been clarified. Thus, there is no need to answer Bawaslu’s invitation,” Syarief said as quoted by kompas.com.

The recent nomination of Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo as a presidential candidate has resulted in a fall in the number of undecided voters, a survey has revealed.

“Since Jokowi entered the presidential race, the number of undecided voters has kept on falling,” Djayadi Hanan, research director at Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting (SMRC), said as quoted by kompas.comon Thursday, based on the results of an SMRC survey.

Jakarta. As political campaigns heat up ahead of the April 9 legislative elections, critics have voiced concerns that candidates have been too wrapped up in political rivalries to address controversial issues, such as family planning, tobacco control and human rights.

National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) head Fasli Jalal said that no prominent candidates had mentioned Indonesia’s population boom or family-planning policy during the official campaign period.

Jakarta. The government, through the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, on Tuesday announced that the 2014 legislative election set for next Wednesday would be a public holiday for employees.

“We have reached the decision so that employees across the country can concentrate on the elections without being burdened by work,” said Manpower and Transmigration Ministry secretary general Abdul Wahab Bangkona.

A survey commissioned by Jakarta-based pollster the Political Communication (Polcomm) Institute says Joko “Jokowi” Widodo remains an electoral magnet who will boost the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) vote in the upcoming elections.

“The party’s electability stands at 23.1 percent and according to respondents surveyed, this is because it has nominated Jokowi as its presidential candidate,” said Polcomm Institute director Heri Budianto in a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by Antara.

Indonesia's main opposition party is set to win a convincing victory at legislative elections next week, boosted by the nomination of the popular Jakarta governor as their presidential candidate, a poll showed.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will take 37 percent of the vote at Wednesday's election, a survey of 2,000 people by private pollster Roy Morgan Research suggested.

The poll put the corruption-mired Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in fourth place with 10 percent.

Golkar Party chief Aburizal “Ical” Bakrie says his party is ready to leave its comfort zone as part of the government and become the next opposition party if it fails to gain a share of power.

"Our democracy does not recognize an opposition. But if by becoming an opposition you mean being outside the Cabinet, Golkar is ready for that. Golkar will serve as a party that provides constructive criticism to the government," Aburizal told journalists on the sidelines of Golkar's campaign rally in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, on Wednesday.

Golkar Party's presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie looked confident when he led the party's campaign in Makassar, South Sulawesi on Tuesday amid support for former vice president Jusuf Kalla, who is of South Sulawesi descent, who had also been touted as a potential vice presidential candidate.

The leased Fokker F100 executive jet carrying Aburizal and his 50-person entourage, which included some 20 journalists, arrived at Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport where several Golkar local executives were waiting for the tycoon.