housands of police and military personnel have been prepared to secure simultaneous regional elections in seven regencies and municipalities across Central Java on Feb. 15, 2017, a top security official has said.
Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Condro Kirono said 4,761 police officers, supported by 1,253 military personnel and 27,877 community protection (Linmas) members were ready to secure the 2017 regional elections, starting from the first stage of elections until the inauguration of newly-elected regional heads.
He said along with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s instruction, the National Police (Polri) would bear the responsibility to maintain the security of regional elections, with full back-up from the Indonesian Military (TNI), so that the elections would hopefully run smoothly and democratically.
“We must remain professional, independent and neutral,” said Condro in Semarang, Central Java, on Friday.
He also asked Polri and TNI personnel from the village level to regency and municipality levels to maintain their solidity. “If they are solid, people will feel happy and secure.”
The seven regions scheduled to hold elections are Banjarnegara, Batang, Brebes, Cilacap, Jepara, Pati and Salatiga. In Yogyakarta province, simultaneous elections will take place in Kulon Progo and Yogyakarta.
Kodam IV/Diponegoro commander Maj. Gen. Jaswandi said village supervisory non-commissioned officers (Babinsa) and village-level security and public order advisors (Babinkamtibmas) were expected to play active roles to secure the 2017 regional elections by submitting any information that might affect the smoothness of the elections.
“If they find something that potentially can affect the smoothness of the regional elections, they must immediately inform it and should be able to solve the problem in stages,” said Jaswandi. (ebf)
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