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Police increase security for presidential candidates
The National Police are preparing to dispatch 372 personnel to improve security for presidential and vice presidential candidates in the lead up to the July 9 election
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he National Police are preparing to dispatch 372 personnel to improve security for presidential and vice presidential candidates in the lead up to the July 9 election.
Insp. Gen. Putut Eko Bayuseno of the National Police's security maintenance division said that personnel would assemble a special security team, which would begin working following the General Elections Commission (KPU) formal announcement of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo-Jusuf Kalla and Gerindra Party's Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa as the official tickets in the race.
'Each of the four candidates will be protected by a group consisting of 93 personnel. The group will be divided into three work shifts, so that each candidate will receive protection from 31 police personnel around the clock,' Putut said on Wednesday at National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.
While on the campaign trail or making other visits, the candidates will be protected by a motorcade of police on motorcycles and in cars.
Putut, however, said that the increased protection was designed to compliment the security teams already established by each candidate.
'However, final details regarding security measures are up to the candidates. We are ready to meet their needs, whether that be a request for plainclothes officers or a reduction in the size of the force,' he added.
Members of the security team would also keep a close eye on food consumed by presidential candidates to prevent them from poisoning.
The security detail, which would run through the presidential inauguration on Oct. 20, would extend in part to the children and spouses of the candidates.
Putut said that the detailed security measures were coordinated with representatives of Prabowo and Jokowi's campaign teams during a meeting at KPU headquarters on Monday.
Andi Widjajanto, Jokowi's campaign secretary, says that Jokowi and Kalla would have ultimate say regarding the security recommendations forwarded by the police.
'By June 1 we will have to decide. We are still studying the offer to make sure that we have [sufficient security personnel] to support the campaign, which runs from June 4 through July 5. Jokowi and Prabowo are the ones who will make the final decision,' he said in Bali on Thursday.
