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Motorcycles promised to prevent `golput'
Cilacap Regent Probo Yulastoro issued Thursday a circular to all 23 district chiefs in the regency saying village administrations would get a motorcycle each if they could reduce golput, or abstentions, in the 2009 elections, affecting 1
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Cilacap Regent Probo Yulastoro issued Thursday a circular to all 23 district chiefs in the regency saying village administrations would get a motorcycle each if they could reduce golput, or abstentions, in the 2009 elections, affecting 1.2 million local voters.
"If a village is able to suppress the number of golput to as low as 5 percent, we will provide it with a motorcycle," Probo told reporters in Cilacap Thursday.
He said that he was committed to this because based on earlier elections in regencies in Central Java, including for the gubernatorial elections, the golput rate was over 40 percent. don't want the 2009 election, which has cost trillions of rupiah to organize, to be ineffective because of golput," said Proboe. don't want to have leaders who are not trusted by the people just because they were elected by a minority."
He added the budget for the motorcycle bonus would be set aside from the 2009 regency budget. think that it is all right for the sake of successful 2009 elections. The legislature has also approved it," he said.
The golput sentiment has spread through the villages.
ifpaid to attend, I won't, especially when I'm asked to join the campaign," a Bojongsari villager, Eko, 40, told The Jakarta Post. tired of hearing empty promises by the so-called people's representatives. They'd forget us if they were elected."
He said he absolutely mistrusted the politicians, be they legislative candidates from the House, provincial or regency levels.
proof, all of them are competing for graft. Just look at Al Amin Nasution from the Muslim-based United Development Party, who is involved in a graft case. What about those from other parties? I absolutely don't believe in what they say," said Eko.
The golput rate during the 2008 Cilacap and Banyumas regency elections stood at 43 percent and 45 percent respectively.
The Central Java gubernatorial election even did worse with only 30 percent of votes cast out of 25 million eligible voters in the province.
