APD | Indonesia invites foreign observers as presidential election draws near

By APD writer Aditya Nugraha

JAKARTA, Mar. 26 (APD) – Indonesia has invited foreign observers to monitor conduction of elections slated for April 17 as phases leading to the event have entered final stages at present.

The invited foreign observers would comprise of representatives of election organizers from 33 countries and 11 international Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Indonesia General Elections Commission (KPU) Commissioner Pramono Ubaid Tanthowi said.

“They will do their related monitoring activities from April 15 to 18,” he said in KPU building here on Monday.

Those observers are scheduled to monitor several election processes, including the ballot casting conducted by the voters in polling stations and part of activities in the KPU.

Voters would cast their votes on more ballots as they will elect the president and members of legislative bodies in their respective regions.

The polling is scheduled from 07.00 a.m. to 13.00 p.m. local time in each of 34 provinces across the nation on April 17.

Candidates to run in Indonesia presidential election have entered final campaign period set from March 24 to April 13. During the period the two candidates will hold campaigns in public spaces across the nation.

The incumbent candidate President Joko Widodo has started the period with a campaign in Banten province capital of Serang on Sunday, while his contender Prabowo Subianto started it from North Sulawesi province capital of Manado in the same day.

The 2019 presidential election is a rematch of the two arch-rival figures of which Prabowo, the former military general, lost in 2014.

Results of surveys carried out by polling agencies in the recent months favored President Widodo to win the election with votes of more than 50 percent than Prabowo’s.

The two candidates would meet in the last debate session scheduled on March 30 in their last moment to attract potential voters in the country. 

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)