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3,300 military personnel deployed to secure voting day in Bali
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All set: An election official displays the ballot paper that will be used for the 2018 Bali gubernatorial election on June 27. Candidate pairs I Wayan Koster-Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati and Ida Bagus Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra-I Ketut Sudikerta will compete in the election. (JP/Ni Komang Erviani)
T
he 9th regional military command (Kodam IX Udayana) is set to deploy some 3,300 personnel to support the police safeguard the regional head elections in Bali on Wednesday. They will monitor 6,296 polling stations across the province.
“We are supporting the Bali Police to safeguard the elections. We have a total of 5,000 personnel. To support the election, we will deploy 3,300 of them to anticipate any disturbances during the elections,” Kodam IX Udayana commander Maj.Gen. Benny Susianto told journalists on Tuesday.
Benny said the military personnel were ready to anticipate any form of security disruption, including terrorism. He emphasized, however, that there had not been any indication of a potential terrorist attack on the island so far.
Apart from Bali, the military command will also safeguard regional elections in West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.
While paying attention to all regencies across Bali, Benny said Kodam IX Udayana would pay special attention to the two regencies of Gianyar and Klungkung. “There will be regent and deputy regent elections in those two regencies. So, we have to safeguard those elections to ensure they run smoothly."
Benny assured that all TNI personnel would stay neutral during the elections. “If personnel are found to have not maintained their neutrality, we will impose tough sanctions on them. They could be dismissed."
Bali's gubernatorial election will be contested by the candidate pairs of I Wayan Koster-Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati and Ida Bagus Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra-I Ketut Sudikerta. (ebf)
