Noticias

Jakarta. As overseas ballots for Indonesia’s April 9 legislative elections came in from Hong Kong — the first place to open its ballot boxes — a General Elections Commission (KPU) official said voter participation was up from 2009, but still quite low.

“Compared to the last election, voter turnout in Hong Kong is far greater,” KPU commissioner Arief Budiman said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Around 700 people cast votes in 2009, while around 6,600 did this year — some eight times more, he said.

Overseas voting began on March 30 and ends April 6.

Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) head Wahid Supriyadi has confirmed that ballots cast by registered Indonesian voters living overseas will be counted on April 9 concurrently with the legislative election in Indonesia.

"The counting of votes cast for the legislative election at overseas polling stations will be carried out at PPLN offices in those countries at the same time as the votes are being counted in polling stations in Indonesia," he said in Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Jakarta. A survey by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank, showed that nearly half of the voters registered for this year’s elections are still undecided about who they will vote for.

“That means they can still change their mind, according to 45.8 percent of voters,” said CSIS researcher Philips Vermonte on Monday, adding that the institution’s survey also showed 42.4 percent claimed they are certain of their choice.

Philips said the findings indicated the competition in both the legislative and presidential elections remained tight.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday calls for all related parties to conduct peaceful elections and avoid anarchism.

"Legislative and presidential candidates must be ready to win or lose. The winner should stay humble while those who lose does not need to be furious," Yudhoyono said on his official Twitter account @SBYudhoyono. 

The president took example of presidential election in 1999 and several regional elections in Indonesia which at first run peacefully but then turned violent.

Golkar Party chairman and presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie left Jakarta on Tuesday to campaign in cities in Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara ahead the legislative election on April 9.

Aburizal and his 50-strong entourage, which includes 20 journalists, departed from Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in East Jakarta aboard a Fokker 100 aircraft.

The chartered executive jet was bound for Makassar, South Sulawesi, where Aburizal is expected to lead Golkar's national campaign together with the province's governor, Syahrul Yasin Limpo, who is also a Golkar member.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) on Sunday kicked off the 2014 legislative election for Indonesian citizens in five countries

Voting will be carried out at six representative offices, namely in Beijing, Shanghai, Brasilia, Copenhagen, Santiago and Hong Kong.

KPU commissioner Ferry Kurnia Rizkiyansyah said that voting had been scheduled around the local holiday and in consideration of weather conditions to boost voter turnout. In Hong Kong, for instance, voting was held on Sunday, as a storm was predicted to hit the country in early April.

The National Police have launched investigations into five alleged campign violations that had been reported by the Elections Monitoring Agency (Bawaslu), a police official said on Friday.

The allegations include the deliberate destruction of campaign paraphernalia in Bali, the use of state facilities and the involvement of subdistrict heads in campaigns in Central Java, organizing political events outside the official campaign period in Papua, and vote-buying in West Sumatra.

Jakarta. Activists on Friday slammed the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) for dismissing reports about alleged campaign violations by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Democratic Party chairman.

“There is an impression that the Bawaslu chairman is siding with Yudhoyono as if he wants to protect the president,” Said Salahuddin, from the group People’s Synergy for Democracy, said on Friday.

Critics lambasted Yudhoyono for allegedly using state facilities for political campaigning purposes — a clear violation of electoral law.

Sleman, Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - The general chairman of Golkar Party, Aburizal Bakrie (ARB), again praised former president Soehartos government during a campaign rally here on Saturday, saying that it was better than the present government.

"I am ready to run for president to revive Soehartos glory," he said.