Labor activist-turned-regent candidate Obon Tabroni and running his mate Bambang Sumaryono, for example, have come up with the abbreviation "Obama" to mimic former United States president Barack Obama.

"Obama" is an independent ticket that has been permitted to run after collecting support from 143,222 Bekasi residents, mostly workers.

"We came up with the nickname spontaneously. One of us shouted 'just call it Obama', and then we all agreed," Obon's campaign team leader Nono Mitsuba told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

"[Barack] Obama is a good figure. He was the first black president who cared a lot about all of his people without exception. We hope that Obon can be a leader like that," Nono added.

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Incumbent candidates Neneng Hasanah Yasin-Eka Supriatmaja, meanwhile, are calling themselves “Neneng YES”.

The Iin-Farihin and Mahdfudz Al-Hafidz pairing, which is also an independent ticket, are calling themselves “IMAM”.

 Bekasi General Elections Commission (KPU) head Idham Kholik (second left) and Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) West Java head Herminus Koto (left) accept a candidacy application letter from regent and deputy regent candidates Sa'duddin (center) and Ahmad Dhani (second right) at KPU Bekasi in West Java on Sept. 23, 2016.(Antara Photo/Risky Andrianto)

Another candidate pair has named itself MENARIK (interesting), an abbreviation of the names Meilina Kartika Kadir and running mate Abdul Kholik.

The five candidates are competing for 1,974,831 voters in the regency. (bbs)

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