Golkar, Dems trump PKS, PDI-P in Bandung

According to initial tabulations, Dadang M. Naser and Deden Rukman Rumaji won a second round of polling in Bandung’s regency elections on Monday in a run-off election marked by allegations of money politics.

Pending certification, Dadang will succeed his father-in-law, Obar Sobarna, as Bandung’s regent.

Dadang’s campaign, which was supported by the Democratic Party and Golkar Party, recorded a majority of the votes cast over Ridho Budiman and Dadang Rusdiana, who were supported by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and People’s Conscience Party (Hanura).

The initial count, based on text message reports sent by officials in 31 districts, showed on Monday that Dadang collected 673.463 votes (53.25 percent) and Ridho 591,197 votes.

The campaigns, who were the top two finishers in August’s initial ballot, entered a second round after neither won more than 30 percent of the vote.

Although initial results gave the race to Dadang, results in flood-hit areas favored Dadang’s rivals, a potential indication of popular disappointment with the administration.

In Bojongsoang, Dadang recorded 57 votes against his rivals, who received 198 votes. In Manggahang, recently rocked by whirlwinds, Dadang eked out 53 votes while Ridho’s campaign captured 313.

“We were disappointed by a regent who has paid little attention to disaster-hit areas. Aid came slowly. It just did not make any sense to vote for his son-in-law,” Rina Agustin, a resident of Manggahang, Ciparay district, said.

The elections Monitoring Committee (Panwas) announced that it had recorded 15 reports of polling violations.

Panwas chairman Hikmat Suganjar said the reports alleged that Dadang’s campaign engaged in money politics, including distribution of cattle, water pumps and instant noodles to lure voters.