VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Ministry of Home Affairs monitored the 2018 regional head elections (pilkada) in five districts and a city in North Sulawesi Province.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs has deployed monitoring teams in the regions that are organizing the regional head elections, including in North Sulawesi Province," Monitoring Coordinator of the Ministry for North Sulawesi Province Yedi Rahmat remarked on Wednesday.

The six areas holding pilkada in North Sulawesi Province are the districts of Minahasa, Southeast Minahasa, North Bolmong, Talaud Islands, Siau Tagulandang Biaro Islands, and Kotamobagu City.

"Based on the reports of our team in some districts and a city, the implementation of pilkada has gone safely," he noted.

He stated that his side also conducted special monitoring in the archipelagic areas since communication network problems were encountered in the distribution of logistics.

Furthermore, the ministry expressed hope that the elections in North Sulawesi Province and other areas of Indonesia would be implemented smoothly and safely.

Over 152 million Indonesians were expected to go to polls to elect 17 governors, 39 mayors, and 115 district heads for the 2018-2023 term during the simultaneous pilkada to be held in 171 regions across the country on Wednesday (June 27).

Based on the data of the General Elections Commission, the total number of eligible voters for the 2018 pilkada was 152,067,680, comprising some 76 million female and 75 million male voters.

The 17 provinces to hold pilkada were East Java, Central Java, West Java, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sumatra, Riau, Maluku, Bali, Southeast Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, North Sumatra, Papua, North Maluku, and Lampung.

Indonesia had organized simultaneous pilkada peacefully in 2015 and 2017 respectively. (ANTARA)