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RI counts down to historic nationwide regional elections
While preparations for Indonesiaâs first-ever simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada), slated to take place nationwide on Wednesday, are approaching completion, several regions have seen escalating security threats ahead of voting day, including bomb threats and violent rallies
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While preparations for Indonesia's first-ever simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada), slated to take place nationwide on Wednesday, are approaching completion, several regions have seen escalating security threats ahead of voting day, including bomb threats and violent rallies.
Security concerns in the Central Sulawesi provincial capital of Palu heightened on Monday morning following the discovery of a suspicious package, believed to be a homemade bomb, at a traffic post on Jl. Gatot Suprapto.
A bomb squad from the Central Sulawesi Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) arrived at the scene and inspected the object using X-ray equipment. The team eventually decided to detonate the package. A nearby state elementary school was forced to send home its students because of the incident, although they were sitting end-of-semester examinations.
Despite the bomb threat, Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Idham Azis gave his assurances that the police would ensure the safety of residents during the elections.
'I will ensure that the security situation in Central Sulawesi is safe on voting day,' he said on Monday.
Eight regions in Central Sulawesi, including Palu, Sigi and Poso, will hold local elections on Wednesday, along with 261 other regions in the country.
Meanwhile, in North Sumatra, at least 1,000 police and military personnel have been deployed to secure the Simalungun General Elections Commission's (KPUD) headquarters following a riot sparked on Sunday evening by supporters of an incumbent candidate, as they were disappointed with the KPUD's decision to dismiss the candidate a few days before the election.
In Wonogiri, Central Java, local police on Monday increased the security alert status to the highest level ahead of the regency's local election, which will see two candidate pairs contest against each other.
'A face-to-face election race will be more prone to conflict compared to those that involve three, four or five candidate pairs,' Wonogiri Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Windro Akbar Panggabean said.
In a bid to save time and money, the government has scheduled concurrent local elections in 269 provinces, regencies and municipalities, half of the total number in the country, this year, making it the first time in Indonesia's history that citizens in hundreds of regions will elect their governors, regents and mayors concurrently.
In South Sulawesi, ballot supplies have been distributed to all regions set to hold elections, including remote islands and mountainous areas. Pangkajene Islands KPUD head Marzuki Kadi, for instance, said supplies had reached Liukang Kalmas district, which can only be reached by a 38-hour boat trip from Makassar.
President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo called on Indonesians to actively participate in the elections.
'Don't forget to go to the TPS [polling stations]; don't forget to vote for Indonesian leaders who will be determined by you, the people,' he said.
