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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, begins voting Wednesday for its nearly 205 million voters in presidential and parliamentary elections, a day after Southeast Asia’s largest economy This is the fifth time since democratic reform began in 1998.
The vast archipelago of more than 270 million people from some 1,300 ethnic groups on 17,000 islands is a bastion of democracy in Southeast Asia, a diverse region with authoritarian regimes, police states, and emerging democracies. It is an economically vibrant area.
What are the issues at stake in the election?
The presidential election will decide who will succeed President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, who is serving his second and final term in office.
The election is shaping up to be a three-way race for the current defense minister. Prabowo Subianto and two former governors, Anies Baswedan and Gunjal Pranowo. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in the first round, a run-off between the top two candidates will be scheduled for June 26.
Tens of thousands of candidates are vying for some 20,000 national, regional and local council positions in the world’s largest archipelagic nation. Approximately 10,000 candidates from 18 parties are vying for seats in the 580-seat parliament alone.
Political parties are required to include women in at least one-third of their party lists, and parties need at least 4% of the national vote to qualify for membership in parliament.
A political party or coalition of parties must control at least 20% of the seats in parliament to nominate a presidential candidate.
How are elections held in Indonesia?
Any Indonesian citizen over the age of 17 can vote, and while family members can vote, police and military personnel are prohibited from voting.
Approximately 52% of registered voters in this year’s election are under 40 years of age. A third of them are under the age of 30, making the “youth vote” important and candidates making concerted efforts to target the youth vote through social media. . media campaign.
Voters can vote at more than 820,000 polling stations across Indonesia’s three time zones. Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 1 p.m., monitored by about 7 million election officials and independent officials. Indonesians living abroad have been voting since February 5 at 3,000 polling stations in many countries or by mail.
Once at the polling place, voters process five ballots at a time, select one of three presidential and vice presidential candidates, and select national, local, regional, regent, and city-level representatives. need to do it. Complex elections around the world.
Votes will be counted publicly at polling stations.
Why are these elections important?
Located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, about the distance from New York to London. It is the fourth most populous country in the world, boasting a rich cultural heritage and diverse natural resources. Nearly 90% of Indonesia’s 277 million people are Muslim, making it the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.
Due to its strategic location, Indonesia has geopolitical significance and plays an important role in regional and global affairs as a member of several international organizations, including the United Nations, G20, and ASEAN. Indonesia’s political stability plays a central role in maintaining regional peace and stability.
What is Widodo’s role in the election?
There are concerns in civil society that Mr. Widodo may want to maintain his influence after leaving office. Activists, students and university lecturers have expressed concern in recent days about Indonesia’s democratic standards, citing unethical, corrupt and nepotistic practices and a deteriorating quality of life.
Widodo has come under growing criticism for his lack of neutrality after he announced his support for front-runner Subianto, who chose Widodo’s son as his running mate. Widodo has been under the party’s banner in 2014 and 2019 since Indonesia’s Democratic Party of Struggle nominated Ganjar Pranowo and former top security official Mohamad Mahfud as its presidential and vice-presidential candidates. He has distanced himself from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, which he was running for.
Who is likely to be elected president?
With three presidential candidates running, election rules require a candidate to receive at least 50% of the national vote and at least 20% of the vote in each state to avoid a runoff.
Various polling agencies predict that Subianto and his running mate, Gibran Rakabumin Raka, are likely to win in the first round. But observers say undecided voters will have a significant impact on the outcome, with the question of whether they can get enough votes to win the election outright or be forced into a runoff. It’s still unclear. In a survey conducted in late December, about one-fifth of Indonesians fell into this category.
The new president will take office on October 20 and must appoint his cabinet within two weeks.
When can I expect results?
The official vote-counting process is time-consuming and labor-intensive and can take up to 35 days to complete, which is the maximum time stipulated by election law.
However, because registered private voting and research organizations will dispatch thousands of volunteers and staff to polling stations across the country, the public can expect a large number of early vote counting results based on sampling.
The early results, widely known as the “quick tally,” are considered a reliable indicator of what the official tally will show when all votes are counted in about a month.
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