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Last ditch vote grab in Java
West Java and East Java will particularly play pivotal roles in determining the outcome of the presidential election, as candidates and their supporters come to the fore to make a last-ditch attempt to lure voters in the nationâs most populous provinces
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West Java and East Java will particularly play pivotal roles in determining the outcome of the presidential election, as candidates and their supporters come to the fore to make a last-ditch attempt to lure voters in the nation's most populous provinces.
As surveys have indicated, the electability gap between Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Prabowo Subianto is closing to between 3 and 7 percent, still in favor of Jokowi. A grab of votes in the provinces is crucial for both tickets as undecided voters in the regions remain high at above 10 percent.
West Java is the last stop on Jokowi's campaign trail outside of Jakarta before the General Elections Commission (KPU) halts all campaign activities on July 6 ahead of election day on July 9.
Despite the challenge laid to secure West Java, Jokowi said that he was upbeat about winning in the area due to solid public support.
'Of course, winning in all provinces is our target, but West Java is currently our focus because, at the moment, we are quite weak here,' Jokowi said on the sidelines of his campaign tour.
'But we are very organized. We have strong ties with the farmers and ordinary people. We have organized volunteers and have the machine of the political parties running,' Jokowi said, attempting to express optimism.
West Java has the largest number of eligible voters in the country, accounting for 17.5 percent of the 188 million eligible voters.
The province consists largely of conservative Muslims. Its serving governor, Ahmad Heryawan, is a politician with the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) while the mayor of Bandung, Ridwan Kamil, is supported by PKS and Prabowo's Gerindra Party.
The province is also a flashpoint for a string of sectarian conflicts involving Sunni, Ahmadiyah and Shia communities. Several regencies in the province, such as Bekasi, have also witnessed the sealing of churches.
Jokowi was his usual down-to-earth self, reaching out to people during a campaign rally in Sukabumi, West Java, on Wednesday.
Along the way from Sukabumi to Bandung, the province's capital, the non-active Jakarta governor was seen handing out T-shirts to passersby, surprising them with his unexpected presence as well as the free gifts.
Jokowi plans to conclude his three-day campaign in West Java in Bandung on Thursday, where he is scheduled to meet with running mate Jusuf Kalla before they hold separate rallies.
The pair will hold a woodstock-style open rally at Jakarta's Bung Karno Stadium on Saturday.
A member of Jokowi's campaign team told The Jakarta Post recently that Jokowi was expecting a loss in West Java but eying a win in East Java, the country's second-most populated province where voters are still fairly divided.
'East Java is key to our victory,' said the source.
The province, which accounts for 16.29 percent of the vote, is home to the country's biggest Muslim organization, Nadhlatul Ulama (NU).
Due to a smear campaign calling Jokowi a Christian of Chinese descent, and the division between top NU figures and clerics, support in the province remains fluid for Jokowi.
Aware of the province's potential, Prabowo is probably slated to fly to East Java on Thursday. Prabowo's brother, Hashim Djojohadikusomo, was in the province's capital of Surabaya on Wednesday to woo Chinese-Indonesians.
Hashim met with the Chinese-Indonesian Union (Petir) to clarify the smear campaign that stigmatized Prabowo as anti-Chinese and anti-Christian.
Prabowo's camp has also launched an aggressive campaign in Central Java, a Jokowi stronghold, where most of the population is considered less conservative. The province accounts for 14.52 percent of the vote.
Prabowo campaigned in Purwokerto, one of the biggest cities in Central Java, on Wednesday by standing on a stage with high spirits before thousands of his supporters.
'There is a man who is very good at acting, creating an image as if he is very close to the poor. When his camp was previously in power, they abused this nation's assets, and even sold it to foreign parties,' Prabowo told the audience.
Gerindra deputy chairman Fadli Zon said the party's recent internal survey predicted that Prabowo would win the election, except in Central Java, the traditional stronghold of Jokowi's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Sita W. Dewi and Hasyim Widhiarto also contributed to this story.
