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334761
Wed, 07/09/2014 - 09:43
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Politicians Hope For Transparent, Peaceful Elexction

POLITICIANS HOPE FOR TRANSPARENT, PEACEFUL ELECTION By Amie Fenia Arimbi Jakarta, July 9 (Antara) - As Indonesians gear up to vote for their future president today, prominent politicians in the country are hopeful that the election will be transparent and peaceful. "Let us observe the presidential election today. I wish that the related authorities who regulate the election such as the General Elections Commission (KPU), Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), and the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) can do their task proportionally and avoid fraud," former vice president Try Sutrisno remarked after casting his vote at a polling booth in Central Jakarta. The senior politician from Golkar Party also called on the police and military personnel to remain neutral during the presidential election and take prompt and strict action against whoever intends to ruin the democratic process of Indonesia today. "Whoever wins the election today, democracy must live on in Indonesia. This nation has a great culture, hence democracy must also be conducted gracefully," Try added. Meanwhile, former chief of army staff and former presidential candidate from the ruling Democrat Party General (ret) Pramono Edhie Wibowo called on both the winning and losing sides of the presidential election to honor the result. "Whoever wins or loses, the result of the election must be honored. Democracy in Indonesia must continue in the future," stated Pramono, who is the brother-in-law of incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. According to Pramono, this year`s legislative and presidential elections were his first time as a voter since retiring from the military. "During the legislative election on April 9, I was nervous because that was my first time participating as a voter. There were many names of legislative candidates, and I did not know them all. But, in this presidential election, I am more confident, plus I know both the presidential candidates personally," he added. Another call for transparent and peaceful election was also conveyed by Chairman of People`s Conscience Party (Hanura) General (ret) Wiranto. "I have instructed all party cadres to observe the polling booths in their neighborhoods to avoid fraud in the election," Wiranto stated after casting his vote at a polling booth in East Jakarta. Wiranto called on all Indonesians to cast their votes based on their conscience. He was also hopeful that there will be no fraud in the presidential election such as intimidation or other cheating methods. "I hope no one can harm the democratic process in Indonesia," he added. Indonesia is holding a presidential election on July 9, 2014. The election is contested by the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa pair and the Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla duo. According to the KPU, a total of 190,307,134 voters have been registered, which includes 2,038,711 overseas voters, with 486,866 polling stations across the archipelago. Message from Yudhoyono Regarding the presidential election 2014, incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has sent a message to Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo in an interview uploaded on YouTube requesting them to accept the result of Wednesday`s presidential election and maintain good relations. "Mr Prabowo and Mr Jokowi (Joko Widodo) should be ready to accept any result. The winner should not be arrogant and the loser should not be angry. They should not be hostile or have an endless grudge after the election as it will only be reflected in their respective constituencies," Yudhyoyono noted in the interview, which was uploaded on July 5. On the occasion, the president reminded that the presidential election is held once in five years, and the opportunity for all factions to re-nominate candidates is wide open. So, the candidates can compete again. He pointed out that the elected contestant should start working immediately as the people are waiting. "The time to work has arrived as campaigns and image-building activities have already ended," Yudhoyono added. On the occasion, the president also thanked the people for their participation in the implementation of the general elections in 2004 and 2009 and for their contribution to the advancement of the democracy in the country. Higher Participation Meanwhile, the KPU expects voter participation in the presidential election 2014 to be higher than that in the legislative election 2014, remarked KPU Commissioner Ferry Kurnia Rizkiyansyah. "Although we have not set any target, we are optimistic that the participation will definitely be higher than that in the legislative election 2014 and the presidential election 2009," Ferry emphasized. Although the KPU has not set a target for the participation rate, Ferry assessed that the presidential voting method, which is simpler than Pileg, can help to draw more voters to the polling stations. "Meanwhile, the community is passionate about the presidential election, and the KPU has also socialized the presidential election step-by-step, but this is not the dominant factor," he added. During the presidential election in 2009, from among 176.4 million voters in the voters list, as many as 127.9 million people, or 73 percent, had exercised their franchise, while around 48.4 million voters, or 27 percent, had abstained from voting. The participation rate had decreased as compared to that recorded in the 2004 presidential election, which had reached 84.1 percent.

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