News

PD, PPP lawmakers touted as Constitutional Court justices

Feb 19 2014
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

Politicians are now competing to grab a seat at the Constitutional Court (MK) after the court last week controversially repealed a government regulation in lieu of law, or Perppu, barring politicians from becoming justices at the court. 

The court, which is tasked with adjudicating election disputes, will see two seats become vacant in the next few months: One was left empty by the exit of former chief justice Akil Mochtar, who was arrested on bribery charges last year. 

Justice Harjono, meanwhile, will leave office in March. 

Kalla to make decision after legislative poll

Feb 19 2014
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

Former vice president Jusuf Kalla said that he would decide whether or not to run for president after the April 9 legislative election.

“Let us wait for the result of the legislative election. Let’s see which parties meet the presidential election threshold,” Kalla said as quoted by Antara news agency on Tuesday.

Kalla declined to comment on the prospect of being paired with Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“The most important thing now is to develop the nation and if one of the ways is by running for president than I would certainly do it,” Kalla said.

Eruption won’t disrupt election: KPU

Feb 17 2014
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has given assurances that the eruption of East Java’s Mount Kelud will not hamper the distribution of logistical materials for the general election.

The KPU said on Sunday that the ballot paper-printing process had returned to normal soon after the eruption, the aftermath of which paralyzed Java on Friday.

Gerindra considers Prabowo-Hatta ticket

Feb 13 2014
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta post

The Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party is mulling whether to pair chief patron Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto with National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman and Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, to run in the upcoming presidential race.

Lawmaker Martin Hutabarat, a member of Gerindra’s board of patrons, said on Wednesday that the party considered Hatta to be an excellent running mate for Prabowo in the elections.

“PAN chairman Hatta Rajasa is among individuals we are considering as vice-presidential candidates for Prabowo,” Martin said.

More ballot papers printed for overseas voters

Feb 13 2014
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has asked PT Gelora Aksara Pratama, one of the companies that won the ballot paper tender, to increase the production of ballot papers for overseas voters.

“Yes, [there is an addendum to the contract], we will wait [for the addendum],” Raja Hutauruk, the company’s director, said on Wednesday.

According to him, the KPU initially requested the company print 1.58 million overseas ballot papers.

“We don’t know how much actually needs to be printed. They asked for that amount [of papers], so we printed them,” Raja said.

Jakartans want Jokowi to stay: Survey

Feb 11 2014
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

A new public opinion poll has found the majority of Jakartans are not in favor of Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s presidential nomination.

The Jakarta-based National Survey Institute (LSN) found that 72.2 percent of respondents disapproved of Jokowi’s running in the 2014 presidential election.

The LSN interviewed 790 respondents between Jan. 10 and 24 in Jakarta’s five municipalities and regencies for the survey.

Five figures could compete with Jokowi, survey says

Feb 07 2014
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

Establishing the competition: Golkar Party politician Priyo Budi Santoso (left) and a participant in the Democratic Party (PD) presidential convention Ali Masykur Musa (right) speak at a discussion on a recently released survey conducted by the Political Communication Institute (PolcoMM), on Sunday.(JP/Jerry Adiguna)

A survey conducted by the Political Communication (Polcomm) Institute has said that there are five non-party figures deemed proper to compete with Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the 2014 presidential election.

PAN Eyes Prabowo-Hatta Ticket

Feb 04 2014
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Globe

The National Mandate Party said on Tuesday that it was not expecting to nominate a presidential candidate in the upcoming election, and that it was considering a vice-presidential berth attached to Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) head Prabowo Subianto’s potenial candidacy.

Support for Democratic Party at Low Point

Dec 28 2013
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Globe

Despite the party’s efforts to restore the its reputation, not a single figure joining the Democratic Party convention to select a presidential candidate is popular enough to win the election, a new survey has shown.

The survey conducted by Indo Barometer found that Dahlan Iskan, the state-owned enterprise minister, was still the most popular, although he was only favored by 12.1 percent of the respondents.

Dahlan was followed by Pramono Edhie Wibowo, the former Army chief of staff and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s brother-in-law, who could only garner 1.9 percent.

Prabowo’s March to Presidency Gets Boost

Dec 26 2013
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Globe

A rare meeting this week between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prabowo Subianto, one of the front-runners to replace him next year, has rekindled long-running speculation about a possible coalition between the two former Army generals’ parties.

The meeting took place behind closed doors on Tuesday morning at the State Palace, with Prabowo, the founder and chief patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), telling reporters afterward that he and the president had seen eye-to-eye on many of the economic and social issues affecting the country.

Aburizal, Prabowo Remain Close in Latest Poll, but Joko Still Top

Dec 23 2013
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Globe

Bakrie, chairman of the Golkar Party, and Prabowo Subianto, founder and chief patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party — known as Gerindra — are neck-and-neck in the most recent poll of prospective presidential candidates, a survey showed on Sunday.

Hanta Yuda, executive director of Pol-Tracking Institute, said the survey, conducted from Sept. 13 to Oct. 11, found that Aburizal and Prabowo’s electability levels were almost equal.

“Prabowo was voted for by 11.73 percent of the respondents while Aburizal got 11.67 percent,” Hanta said.

Jokowi will not switch party, says PDI-P

Dec 17 2013
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

The leadership of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has said it is convinced Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will not be tempted by an offer from a rival political party to nominate him for the 2014 presidential election.

PDI-P central board member Maruarar Sirait said Jokowi would not jump ship even if he was not nominated by the party.

“Jokowi is a politician who values loyalty to his political party. So there’s no way [he would join a rival party,” Maruarar told reporters on Monday.

Golkar could win big, Bakrie says

Dec 17 2013
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie said on Monday that his party’s strong presence in rural areas could help it win a significant number of seats through the legislative election.

“Golkar is still strong in the regions, so we are confident that we can win 170 seats at the House [of Representatives],” Aburizal said on Monday.

Aburizal visited Palu to introduce himself to voters in the city. Golkar has officially nominated Aburizal for the 2014 presidential election.

PDI-P leads polls as election nears

Dec 14 2013
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

The latest political surveys have placed the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) as the most electable party in the country’s upcoming legislative election.

The country’s biggest opposition party, which was ranked third after the ruling Democratic Party (PD) and the Golkar Party in early 2012, is now leading the pack, with many pollsters attributing its rising popularity to scandals hitting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s party and the meteoric rise of PDI-P politician and Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Many Indonesians Think Vote-Buying ‘Acceptable’: Poll

Dec 13 2013
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Globe

More than 40 percent of Indonesian voters consider politicians seeking to buy support at elections acceptable, a survey showed Friday, months before national polls in the graft-ridden country.

In what it described as an “alarming” survey, Jakarta-based pollster Indikator found that 41.5 percent of 15,600 people interviewed did not have a problem accepting cash or a gift from would-be lawmakers.

This compared to 57.9 percent who thought vote-buying was unacceptable, according to the survey. A tiny fraction were undecided on the matter.

Megawati meets with Jokowi, Ahok

Dec 09 2013
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri has met with Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his deputy Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a party official has said.

“Politics was not discussed,” PDI-P executive Trimedya Panjaitan said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Sunday. The meeting came amid speculation that the PDI-P would nominate Jokowi as its presidential candidate in 2014.

The party has yet to announce its presidential candidate, while Jokowi has repeatedly said that he would focus on his current job as Jakarta governor.

Legislative Election Voter List Delayed Until March

Dec 06 2013
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Globe

The release date for the final voters list for the 2014 legislative elections has been revised after meetings between government institutions and the elections board on Wednesday. The final list will now be released 14 days prior to polling day on April 9.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has pushed the deadline back after announcing in November that the list would be released on Dec. 4.

Poll body given ample time to fix voter roll

Dec 04 2013
Indonesia
Source: 
The Jakarta Post

The Election Supervisory Committee (Bawaslu) has said it will be flexible with the deadline for the General Elections Commission (KPU) to fix citizen registration problems still affecting around 3 million voters in the final list of 186 million voters.

As of Tuesday, the KPU and the Home Ministry had produced citizen registration numbers for around 7.1 million of 10.4 million voters who had lacked them. The KPU is scheduled to hold a plenary meeting on Wednesday, the deadline previously set by Bawaslu.

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