VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Friendly Environment Polling Station in Bandung;photo : Daniel/VOI - 

Voinews, Bandung - Wednesday, February 14 2024 will be the momentum for the democratic party in Indonesia. The excitement of the five-yearly election of national leaders and people's representatives takes place in various regions, including Bandung.

There is something unique about Voting Place (TPS) 25 Gang Liogenteng, Astana Anyar, Bandung city. The TPS, which compiled 269 Permanent Voter Lists (DPT), succeeded in stealing the attention of the public and media.

This is because the voting location was decorated with knick-knacks from processed waste such as bottle caps, mineral water wrappers, coffee wrappers, and others. 

As soon as voters enter the voting room, guests will be asked to fill out an attendance list at a table covered with woven plastic waste.

Voters walked on a red carpet made of coffee wrappers that extended to the voting booth. The TPS 25 signage above the words Waste Bank is made from plastic bottle caps, right next to the fountain and plant pots which are all made from used mineral water packaging.

Chairman of TPS 25, Sandi, said that the creative idea for waste processing was also related to the existence of a Waste Bank in Nyengsret Village, Astana Anyar District, Bandung.

"Incidentally, since July, the Nyengsret sub-district has been implementing it, and has opened its own Waste Bank, before the waste emergency in the city of Bandung, that's why this is also an initiation, rather than buying decorations, it's better if we use existing waste," said Sandi to VOI at location of TPS 25 Bandung.

The aim of waste-based decoration ideas is to make people, especially voters, more aware of sorting and recycling so that they have marketability.

"The aim is to make people more aware, to actually sort the waste because maybe after looking at it like this, the waste could be useful and could have selling value," added Sandi.

Through innovative waste-based decorations, TPS 25 succeeded in attracting voter participation, "Thank God, up to now we have almost 75 percent of the 269 (DPT) 200 voters, just a little more, thank God," concluded Sandi when met at the last minute. final election at TPS 25//(DAN-VOI)

Archive photographs depicts Indonesian general election in 1955, the country's first since independence. ANTARA/HO-ANRI/nbl - 

Voinews, Jakarta - The National Archives of Indonesia (ANRI) retells Indonesia's 1955 general election as the first election since independence through historical artefacts and collections of the agency and other sources.

"The principles of our first election in 1955 were honest, direct, general, free, secret, and solidarity," Junior Archivist Mudanto Pamungkas stated here, Wednesday.

Pamungkas explained that the ANRI archives concerning the 1955 election are available in text, photographs, and audio-visual forms originating from the then-Information Ministry and Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama.

The ANRI also collected archives from ANTARA News Agency that reported news and stories about the election, he added.

Quoted from Antara news, Pamungkas explained that the 1955 election was organized in two phases. The first phase was held on September 29 to elect 257 members of the House of Representatives, while the second phase was organized on December 15 to elect 514 members of the Constitutional Assembly, also known as Konstituante.

"The legal basis of the 1955 election was Law No. 7 of 1953 on Election of Konstituante and House of Representative members," the archivist stated.

Some 36 political parties, 34 mass organizations, and 48 independent candidates participated in the parliamentary election, he remarked, adding that 39 political parties, 23 mass organizations, and 29 independent candidates vied for seats in the Constitutional Assembly.

"The voter's registration for the election took place from May to November 1954. Residents eligible to vote are those aged at least 18 years old or who have married," he noted.

Of the 77.9 million members of the Indonesian population at that time, 43.1 million were entitled to vote, the archivist stated.

"Indonesian nationals overseas could not vote in the 1955 election, as decided during the 95th cabinet meeting on February 8, 1955," Pamungkas stated.

The results of the 1955 legislative election were dominated by four political parties: the Indonesian National Party (PNI), with 8.4 million votes, and the Islamist Masyumi Party, with 7.9 million votes, both awarded 57 seats.

Meanwhile, Nahdlatul Ulama, which was politically active at that time, received 6.9 million votes, equal to 45 seats, while the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) won 6.1 million votes, meaning it was awarded 39 parliamentary seats//(Antara-VOI)

VOInews, Jakarta: The Shanghai Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) conducted the 2024 General Election voting on Wednesday (14/2) at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) Shanghai. PPLN Shanghai member Marcellino Enrique Suprapto said the Overseas Voting Station (TPSLN) in Shanghai was open from morning to evening.

"For the polling stations, we are open from 8am to 5pm," Marcellino told Voice of Indonesia in the Indonesia Voting Special Program on Wednesday (14/2/2024) in Jakarta.

Marcellino said that what was different from other overseas polling stations was that the polling station in Shanghai had a waiting room and a voting room on different floors.

"The waiting room and the voting room are in different places. Maybe that's what makes it different from Indonesia. This is due to permit limitations, and we also have to use the premise of the Consulate General in Shanghai to vote," he explained.

In addition, Marcellino revealed the high enthusiasm of the Indonesian people to exercise their voting rights in the 2024 elections, as seen from the Indonesian citizens who came from various provinces in China.

"Because we also open for five provinces Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shanghai, Anhui and Zhejiang. A lot of out-of-towners have also come here to vote. So even those from out of town came to vote," Marcellino explained.

In the PPLN Shanghai working area, Marcellino explained that there are three methods, namely, polling stations, mobile ballot boxes (KSK) and posts. He also revealed that to avoid the secrecy of votes, for the delivery of ballots by post, citizens are required to vote immediately when the ballots arrive at the location.

According to the report, the number of Permanent Voters List (DPT) in PPLN Shanghai reached 844, 258 voters used the Postal method, and 84 through KSK.

"That does not include the Additional Voters List (DPTb)," he explained.

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesians began voting for a new president on Wednesday, with three candidates battling to lead Southeast Asia's biggest economy and the third-largest democracy in the world. The relocation of the archipelago's capital from Jakarta to Nusantara on the island of Borneo and the fight against corruption are two key issues in the election that will determine who succeeds President Joko Widodo afer a decade in power.

Here are the candidates:

- Prabowo Subianto

Prabowo Subianto, 72, of the Advanced Indonesia Coalition is the frontrunner in the contest, with polls projecting he will win a majority. He currently serves as defence minister afer losing to Widodo in the 2014 and 2019 elections.

Schooled internationally, the defence chief is a retired military general who was fired in 1998 for allegedly ordering the kidnapping of tens of pro-democracy activists in unrest following the fall of Suharto.

Together with President Widodo's 36-year-old son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his vice presidential candidate, Subianto has been outspoken about carrying on the incumbent leader's policies. Subianto has pledged to eradicate childhood stunting due to malnutrition by ofering free lunch to students, one of his most popular campaign programmes. While the prevalence of stunting has been falling, it remained at 21.6 percent in 2022.

The defence chief has also committed to maintaining a nickel ore export ban imposed by Widodo to increase national income from the mining sector and turn Indonesia into a developed nation.

"In less than two years, our income has increased 10 times to $33.3 billion because of this," Subianto said at a campaign event.

He has also changed his public persona to woo voters, using a slick social media strategy that has seen videos of him dancing go viral. It has transformed his image from a figure of strength to what some users have called a "cute grandpa".

- Anies Baswedan

Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan has portrayed himself as the anti-establishment candidate in Indonesia's presidential campaign, climbing to second place in polls on the back of a message that includes opposing a costly relocation of the capital to Borneo. That line of attack has seen his stock rise, and he is now polling in second as the main challenger to Subianto.

Anies Baswedan, 54, is nominated by a coalition in which his National Democratic Party is supported by two Islamic parties. He is popular with conservative Muslims and Islamists in the Muslim-majority country. Baswedan has repeatedly claimed democracy has sufered under Widodo's rule. The former minister of education also opposes the idea of moving the capital to Borneo. 

Baswedan has promoted pouring money into more than a dozen existing cities to boost economic equality instead of developing a new capital from scratch. However, Baswedan previously courted controversy in Jakarta's 2017 governor election when he faced Christian candidate Basuki Tjahaja Purnama and was accused of stoking religious divides.

- Ganjar Pranowo

Ganjar Pranowo pushed his humble background to emerge as a leading Indonesian presential candidate, but his campaign has flared out in the lead-up to the election.

The former governor of Central Java for two terms, Pranowo was seen as Subianto's main opponent afer being nominated as the candidate for a coalition led by Widodo's ruling Indonesia Democracy of Struggle Party (PDI-P). Baswedan has since overtaken him in the polls, however.

The 55-year-old silver-haired politician is focusing on bread-and-butter issues, prioritising access to healthcare, housing and food. He has picked current chief security minister Mahfud MD as his running mate and put corruption eradication high on his campaign agenda.

Like Subianto, he is promising to carry on Widodo's policies, including moving the capital. Pranowo and Mahfud are the only candidates who have experience in three areas of power: legislative, executive and judicial. Initially viewed as the presidential frontrunner, he lost support over his opposition to Israel's participation in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup last year, which Indonesia was set to host but lost the rights over the issue.

Sumber : AFP