VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The 2020 simultaneous Regional Head Elections (Pilkada) will be held on December 9 to safeguard the people's constitutional rights to vote and be elected, albeit by applying strict health protocols, Presidential spokesman Fadjroel Rachman confirmed.

"Pilkada must be organized with strict health protocols and discipline supported by law enforcement and firm sanctions, so that a new cluster owing to pilkada does not arise," Rachmad noted in a press release here on Monday.

The spokesman quoted President Joko Widodo as saying that one cannot wait for the pandemic to end to hold the regional head elections since no one knows when the COVID-19 pandemic will end.

"Hence, Pilkada must go on along with strict health protocols to ensure safety and that democracy is upheld," he affirmed.

Rachmad believes it is not an impossible task to organize elections during a pandemic, as other countries, such as Singapore, Germany, France, and South Korea, also held general elections during a pandemic, with the application of strict health protocols.

The government has urged all parties to work in unison to thwart the likelihood of new COVID-19 clusters arising at every stage of the elections.

"This simultaneous Pilkada should offer momentum for the emergence of new ways and innovations for the community and with state officials to rise together and make Pilkada an arena for brainstorming, contesting actions, and efforts to reduce and break the chain of COVID-19," he emphasized.

In addition, Fadjroel noted that the simultaneous regional elections also demonstrates to the international community that Indonesia is a constitutional democracy and maintains the sustainability of a democratic government system under the Pancasila ideology and the 1945 Constitution.

In the meantime, Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) have expressed their views that the government should postpone the implementation of the upcoming Pilkada owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"(We) request the General Election Commission of the Republic of Indonesia, Government, and House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia to postpone implementation of the 2020 simultaneous Pilkada until the health emergency stage is over," Chairman of PBNU Said Aqil Siroj noted in a statement here on Sunday. Despite applying strict health protocols, it would be very difficult to avoid crowds during the implementation of the local elections, NU, the country's largest Muslim organization, stated.

NU also called to reallocate the regional election budget for handling the health crisis and strengthening social safety nets.

Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy after the US and India, is once again gearing up to hold simultaneous regional head elections (Pilkada) in 270 regions, or nearly half of its territories, on December 9 this year.

About 734 nominee pairs have registered as candidate pairs for the 2020 Pilkada, which will be held simultaneously in nine provinces, 224 districts, and 37 cities.

Despite the strict implementation of the health protocols during the Pilkada preparation process, several central and local KPU officers have contracted the novel coronavirus disease.

KPU Chairman Arif Budiman announced on September 18 that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and would work from home.

Earlier, the commissioner of the central KPU, Evi Novida Ginting Manik, also contracted COVID-19 in Jakarta.

In addition, at least 63 prospective candidates for Pilkada contracted COVID-19, and the figure is likely to increase.

In Boyolali, Central Java, 96 officers of the local office of the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) were infected with COVID-19.

In Riau, the local KPU chairman, Ilham Muhammad Nasir, tested positive for COVID-19, so other commissioners of the provincial KPU also underwent testing for the virus. (Antaranews)

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said to push the export of halal products to Islamic countries that are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

"We need to encourage the export of our halal products by taking advantage of Indonesia's membership in the OIC Islamic state organization forum," she said at the FREKS Islamic Economics Expert Association (IAEI) event in Jakarta, on Monday.

Sri Mulyani, who is also the IAEI Chairwoman said that the export of halal products to the OIC countries in 2018 was $45 billion or 12.5 percent of Indonesia's total trade, which reached $369 billion.

Sri Mulyani said Indonesia could increase exports of halal products to OIC countries because they have a large Muslim population and their demand for goods and services is continuous.

"We can also improve and enter the non-OIC countries," she said.

Sri Mulyani said that the total expenditure of the Muslim population in the world, which amounts to 1.8 billion people or 24 percent of the world's total population, is roughly $2.2 trillion. 

The number includes purchases of food, medicine, lifestyle, and various other things according to the Islamic teachings.

"This expenditure also has a sizeable growth of 5.2 percent," she said.

She added stated that Indonesian halal products have a large international market share.

"With this rapid growth, the Islamic economy is actually an important part of the global economy," she said.

The Finance Minister expects the exports of halal products can continue even during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite challenges such as potentially reduced demand.

"COVID-19 affects the economic performance of countries in the world. So it will definitely affect their capability and demand for Indonesian export goods," she said. (Antaranews)

World leaders will come together, virtually, on Monday to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, as the deadly coronavirus pandemic challenges the effectiveness and solidarity of the 193-member world body.

As COVID-19, which emerged in China late last year, began to spread around the world, forcing millions of people to shelter at home and dealing a devastating economic blow, countries turned inward and diplomats say the United Nations struggled to assert itself.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Reuters that the pandemic has exposed the world’s fragilities. He plans to tell world leaders on Monday that they need to work together at a time when there is a surplus of multilateral challenges and a deficit of solutions.

The 15-member Security Council took months to back a call by Guterres for a global ceasefire - to allow countries to focus on fighting COVID-19 - due to bickering between the world’s biggest powers: China and the United States.

The 193-member General Assembly only adopted an omnibus resolution on a “comprehensive and coordinated response” to the pandemic earlier this month and it was not by consensus. The United States and Israel voted no.

A $10.3 billion U.N. appeal to fund fighting the pandemic in vulnerable and low-income countries is only a quarter funded. Guterres now has taken a lead in pushing to make sure any vaccine for the coronavirus is made available to everyone globally.

A senior European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the General Assembly should have acted months ago, but “we were all hampered by, and hit, by the COVID-19.”

‘MOMENTS OF DISAPPOINTMENT’

The United Nations headquarters is in New York, which was hit hard by the coronavirus. U.N. member states had to decide how to work virtually, which they did for several months before resuming some in-person meetings recently.

“We all suffered from the fact that we couldn’t meet ... A lot of attention was paid to process more than substance, unfortunately,” said the European diplomat. “I wouldn’t put the blame on the U.N. as an organization, it’s the member states that have to be more assertive and positive.”

A U.N. report released on Monday found that six out of ten people believe the United Nations has made the world a better place, but looking ahead three-quarters see the world body as essential in tackling global challenges.

“However, at the same time, over half still see the U.N. as remote from their lives and say they don’t know much about it,” the report said.

The one-day special event on Monday comes ahead of the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, which starts on Tuesday with no presidents or prime ministers physically present in New York. All statements have been pre-recorded and will be broadcast in the General Assembly hall.

The United Nations was created when countries came together after World War Two to prevent another such conflict. While there has not been World War Three, leaders will adopt a statement on Monday acknowledging “moments of disappointment.”

“Our world is not yet the world that our founders envisaged 75 years ago. It is plagued by growing inequality, poverty, hunger, armed conflicts, terrorism, insecurity, climate change, and pandemics,” the statement says.

“All this calls for greater action, not less,” it says. (Reuters)

Wisma Atlet Hospital for Covid-19 has so far discharged a total of 13,757 patients recovering from the novel coronavirus disease since the makeshift hospital was set up on March 23, 2020.

Spokesman of the Wisma Atlet Hospital, Colonel Aris Mudian said in a press statement on Sunday that the hospital has recorded a total of 16,501 COVID-19 patients and 13,757 of them are recovered during the March 23 to Sep. 20.

The hospital initially only used Tower 6 and 7 to treat COVID-19 patients at the Wisma Atlet, but starting from Sep. 15, the hospital also used Tower 5 for the isolation of asymptomatic patients.

As of Sep. 20, Tower 5 has accommodated a total of 1,727 patients, and 525 of them have been discharged. (VOI)