The General Election Commission (KPU) released on Monday the official list of Indonesians who are eligible to vote in the 2014 national elections, including 10.4 million people who do not yet have government issued identification numbers (NIK).
A senior member of the Indonesian Democracy Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said on Thursday that the party held no objection to nominating Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo as a presidential candidate in the 2014 national election.
“For Megawati [Sukarnoputri], it has never been a problem,” Sabam Sirait said. “The PDI-P has no objection if it is Jokowi, but let us see when the time comes. The time is not yet right, we only need to wait for the right moment.”
The General Election Commission (KPU) is optimistic that it can beat the two-week deadline given by the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) to fix the glitches in voter list data for the 2014 polls.
On Wednesday, the KPU postponed publication of the final voter’s list following protests from Bawaslu and political parties who said that the list was flawed and could leave millions of eligible voters disenfranchised.
Bawaslu had earlier said that more than 11 million voters could lose their right to vote if the glitches were not fixed.
Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo and former general Prabowo Subianto aren’t considered real contenders in the upcoming election, despite their high chances of being elected as president based on their popularity, a survey showed.
Adjie Alfaraby, a researcher at the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI), told reporters on Sunday that Prabowo, founder of Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), might do what he did in 2009 by forming a coalition with Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Megawati Sukarnoputri, who served as president from 2001 to 2004, is chairwoman of the PDI-P.
The Golkar Party pledged that it would avoid transactional politics merely for the sake of power and avoid unhealthy competition within the party.
“We want to change the political tradition, which has always been filled with intrigue and defamation, into a qualitative competition that is based on ideas, innovation and political instruments,” Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie said on Sunday during the party’s 49th anniversary in Jakarta.
Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, second from left, waves to supporters during a parade in celebration of the Idul Adha holiday on October 14. His use of social media to appeal to young voters has sparked imitation across Indonesia’s political landscape. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)
One of Indonesia’s major political parties says problems related to poor preparations for next year’s elections are threatening the country’s democracy.
“It is clear that the 2014 legislative and presidential elections will repeat all the weaknesses of the 2009 election,” Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary general Tjahjo Kumolo told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.
A new survey by Jakarta-based pollster the United Data Center (PDB) has found that Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is the potential candidate to beat in the 2014 presidential election.
PDB researcher Agus Herta Sumarto said that the electability rating of Jokowi now stood at 36 percent, ahead of his strongest rival Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, with 6.6 percent.
In the PDB’s earlier survey conducted in January 2013, Jokowi’s electability rating was only 1 percent higher than that of Prabowo.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has warned members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) against meddling in the country’s politics and advised they remain neutral ahead of next year’s general elections.
Yudhoyono made the call in his speech delivered during the celebration of the 68th anniversary of the TNI.
“The outcome of [the TNI’s] internal reforms must be visible during next year’s elections. Please make sure the military’s position is in the best interests of the state,” Yudhoyono said in a ceremony at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force base in Jakarta on Saturday.
Self-styled king of dangdut Rhoma Irama called on Muslims to vote for the National Awakening Party (PKB) so it could nominate a presidential candidate for 2014.
Rhoma, speaking in Garut, West Java, said that the PKB needed at least 20 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives, to nominate a presidential ticket.
Rhoma was at a gathering to introduce some of the party's prospective presidential candidates including himself.
After two years of discussion, the House of Representatives’ Legislation Body (Baleg) has officially rejected a proposal to amend Law No. 42/2008 on presidential elections.
With this decision, the 2014 presidential election will still require parties or coalitions of parties to secure 20 percent of seats in the House or win 25 percent of the popular vote in the legislative election in April next year in order to nominate candidates to contest the presidential election in June.
Akbar Tandjung, former chairman of the Golkar Party (1998-2004) and former speaker of the House of Representatives (1999-2004) is the head of Golkar’s board of advisors. Believed to be one of the rare “king makers” in the country, his comments, particularly on the internal affairs of Golkar, have frequently drawn controversy and shaken up the party. The Jakarta Post’s Imanuddin Razak and a number of journalists spoke to Akbar about the latest political issues ahead of the 2014 general elections.
Question: Who do you think is the best candidate for the presidency?
The General Elections Commission (KPU) has managed to fix some of the data errors affecting 65 million eligible voters and has given assurances the problem will not cause them to lose their right to vote.
“Synchronization between KPU and Home Ministry data has enabled us to correct the data of 16 million voters. This number may increase as we’re still working on it,” KPU chairman Husni Kamil Malik said on Wednesday.
Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo leaves an event in Ancol, North Jakarta, with Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Any talk of Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo joining another party’s presidential ticket in 2014 is groundless because of the hugely popular official’s strong loyalty to the country’s main opposition party, analysts said on Thursday.
Arya Fernandes, an analyst from Charta Politika, a think tank, said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was fully aware of Joko’s potential.
Despite initial demands for the law to be changed, the House of Representatives looks set on keeping the 2009 Presidential Election Law — including the 20 percent threshold for nominating a candidate. Legislators do not have the will to make changes and talks surrounding the law’s potential revision have closed, several lawmakers have said.
The government is worried that voter participation in the 2014 elections will decline as people are getting more and more pessimistic about the organization of elections in Indonesia.
Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said the level of voter participation in the country’s five-yearly elections tended to decline. He said in average there was a 10 percent decline of voter participation in every election.
He said the rate of voter participation in the 2009 elections stood at 71 percent, down from 84.07 percent in 2004 and 92.74 percent in 1999.
Experts say an Cabinet spot is just one benefit of expelling recalcitrant coalition member
The Democratic Party would be well advised to cut loose the rebellious Prosperous Justice Party from the ruling coalition, if only because it would gain at least one additional Cabinet spot, a prominent political commentator said on Monday.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) is considering amending its 2013 regulation that requires all media outlets to provide equal coverage of every legislative candidate.
Some organizations and politicians have said the regulation would shackle press freedom.
According to Article 46 (1), any media outlets that do not provide equal portion of duration or space to each legislative hopeful will receive sanctions ranging from written warnings to publication or broadcasting bans.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) has approved a proposal for 10 extra seats in the West Sumatra Provincial Legislative Body (DPRD) to 65 in the 2014 legislative election.
The rise in the number of seats is in line with the increasing number of constituents as a result of population growth.
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