Photos of Indonesian Presidential Election: The Balloting Day

Today is the balloting day for the Indonesian Presidential Election. It's the second time Indonesians directly elect their president. (The first was in 2004. Before that, the president was elected by Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat or The People's Consultative Assembly.)

Here are some of the photos I took at the balloting station where I cast my vote today.



The balloting day was declared as a public holiday. Balloting stations throughout the country were opened at 08:00 A.M. local time (Indonesia has three time zones: GMT +7, +8, and +9) and closed at 01:00 P.M., at which time the votes began to be counted.

Voting is done by putting a check mark on the number, photo, or the name of pair of the presidential and vice presidential candidates that one chooses.

The top photos shows a Balloting Committee member showing a disqualified vote during the counting. The card was disqualified because the voter had written a word in addition to the check mark.



The tally results at the balloting station where I voted show that the incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Boediono(SBY - Boediono) was leading with 240 votes. The other two pairs of candidates, Megawati-Prabowo (Megapro) and Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto (JK - Win) were trailing behind with 43 votes respectively.

The Youngest Election Observer

I snapped this photo at the balloting station where I voted in the Legislative Election on April 9. While I was waiting for my turn to go into the voting booth, this young girl suddenly approaced the KPPS (The Balloting Committee) desk and observed how they worked.

For your information, Indonesia has just completed the Legislative Election and is now preparing for the Presidential Election, which is scheduled to be held on July 8, 2009. Three pairs of candidates are running in this year's presidential election:

1. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY, the incumbent, a retired Indonesian National Army general and chairman of Partai Demokrat or the Democratic Party) and Prof. Boediono (who is currently the governor of Bank Indonesia, Indonesia's Central Bank. He is a non-partisan candidate chosen by SBY.)

2. Jusuf Kalla (JK, the current vice president, a former businessman, and the chairman of Golkar Party) and Wiranto (a retired Indonesian National Army general and chairman of HANURA or People's Conscience Party)

3. Megawati Soekarno Putri (Mega, the 5th Indonesian President [2001 - 2004], and the chairwoman of PDIP or Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle) and Prabowo Subiyanto (a retired Indonesian National Army general and the chairman of Gerindra or Great Indonesia Movement Party).

Learning Democracy

As a newly emerging democracy, Indonesia still has a lot of things to learn about its nature and decent practices. Just a little more than ten years ago, we did not use to have or enjoy what we do now. Direct and free elections of government officials and the freedom of speech and the press, for example, were only a dream when I was a student. Demonstrations - except if they were in support of the ruling regime - were strictly forbidden in the name of "national security" and "political stability" and for the sake of "economic development and progress," the polical jargons that the New Order regime under President Suharto often used to defend its undemocratic practices.

We did enjoy a remarkable economic growth then, and Indonesia was named as one of the emerging economic tigers of Asia. However, a government without transparency and public accountability tends to become corrupt and abusive of its power. And that is exactly what was discovered when the economic crisis of 1997-98 hit the region. A large portion of the wealth of this country was found to have been circulating only in a limited circle of people, mostly those closest to power and their cronies. Collusion, corruption, and nepotism were rampant that what appeared to be progress and prosperity was nothing more than a shell that was hollow inside.



With the crises, came the Reform movement, and democratization programs were speedily instituted. The 1945 Constitution has since been ammended four times to make rooms for democratic institutions and practices, and avoid abuse and misinterpretations by those in power.

Government officers and members of the legislative bodies are now freely and directly elected and, with the abolition the regulations that gave the government control over the press, the press is now as free as those in any democratic countries. Citizens are also free to stage protests and demonstrations and to petition the government for redress of grievances. The establishment of the all powerful Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (Corruption Eradication Commission) particularly has made the efforts to get rid of corruptive practices a crowning jewel of our efforts to have a clean and accountable government and get back on track to prosperity. A lot of high ranking public officers, including a substantial number of the members of the legislative bodies, have been captured, tried, and indicted for embezzlement of public funds.




Although relatively new, the spirit and practices of democracy are well-embraced by Indonesians from all walks of life, as these photos show. The top photo is of a small group of Indonesia University of Education students who - like a lot other students from around the country - recently protested a new legislation passed by the DPR (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat) - the Indonesian parliament. They considered the new law, which would require that all Indonesian schools and universities be made into Badan Hukum Pendidikan (Legal Educational Body), as an effort to privitize education and a betrayal of the Constitutional rights of the citizens to get an affordable education for all.

The second, third, and fouth photos are of students giving their votes for Students Legislative and Executive Bodies.

Skywatch Friday Post: The Election Sky

With the general election only about a month away, Indonesian skies and airwaves are nowadays saturated with different flags, banners, and a lot of other kinds of advertisements touting the political parties and candidates for the national and local legislative bodies.

Since the fall of Suharto (The New Order) regime and Reform of 1998, Indonesia has become the world's third largest democracy after India and the United States. The Election of 2009 is the third free election held since 1998, and the second direct presidential election. 34 national political parties are going to take part in the current election. In addition to this, 6 local parties are aslo going to take part in the election at the special territory of Aceh Province in the northern tip of Sumatra island. The legislative election is scheduled for 9 April, whereas the presidential election is going to be held in July after the members of the legislative bodies are elected and sworn in.

This post is Bandung Daily Photo's participation in the Skywatch Friday meme. To see other participants' posts from around the world, please follow the link.

Introducing Candidates of Bandung Mayoral Election

Text and pictures by Eki Qushay Akhwan

Bandung is scheduled to hold the election for its next mayor and deputy mayor on August 10. Today, Wednesday, July 23, marks the beginning of the official campaigning pediod, which will last until August 6.

Here are the tids and bits of who and what about the candidates:



This is Dada Rosada, the incumbent mayor, and his running mate, Avi Vivananda, who is currently a member of the city council. Dada and Ayi, as they like to be called, are running with the support of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar, the largest political parties in the country. Dada, who was born in Bandung on April 29, 1947, holds a Master's degree in Public Administration and is a career bureaucrat. His younger running mate (born in 1967), Ayi, has a law degree, and is a career politician. As seen on the banner above, their campaign reads "Move on and Make History. They are not those who only make promises!!!"



The second pair of candidates are Dr. Taufikurahman (Taufik) and Deni Tresnahadi (Abu Syauqi). Dr Taufikurahman, who was born in Bekasi (a city in the notht of West Java) on September 13, 1961, is an academician and lecturer at Bandung Institute of Technology. He has a Ph.D from the University College of Swansea, UK. His running mate, Deni Tresnahadi, who was born in Bandung in 1968, is a businessman. They are the offical candidates of PKS (Justice and Prosperous Party), a small and increasingly more popular Islamic party in Indonesia. PKS won the majority seat at the election for the city council members in 2004. Their campaign banner pictured above reads "Please support the candidates for the mayor and deputy mayor of Bandung 2005 - 2013 from the Justice and Prosperous Party " and their campaign catch word "Bandung Bangkit" (Bandung Raising).

Both Taufik and Abu Syauqi are said to be active bloggers who have a lot of fans among Bandung blogger community.



E. Hudaya Prawira (born in Bandung on September 17, 1949) and his running mate, Nahadi, (born in Bekasi in 1971) are independent candidates. Hudaya is a senior civil servant and Nahadi is a lecturer. Their campaign banner pictured above reads "HADI (Hudaya-Nahadi), Indipendent Candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor. It's time to choose/elect non-partisan, independent leaders. [We're] ready to serve!"


Bandung Daily Photo

Political "Chameleon-ship"

Text and picture by Eki Qushay Akhwan

Politicians are probably the most adept of all chameleon species. Though not always in the negative sense, they change colors whereever they go to adapt to their audience (constituency).

I spotted this campaign banner near Darut Tauhid Islamic Boarding school complex on Geger Kalong Girang Street in the north of Bandung. The banner depicts the incumbent mayor, Dada Rosada, who is running for the second term of office in the upcoming mayoral election, posturing a gesture and wearing Islamic religious symbols: holding up his arms (the gesture Moslems make when praying), wearing Indonesian Islamic attires ("peci" cap, white "taqwa" shirt, and green shoulder scarf), and posing in front of a minaret picture to attract the votes of Moslem constituency in the area. The caption in the banner reads: "Let us make Bandung into a religious city to achieve Bandung Bermartabat". Bermatabat is an accronym of the city's vision which can literally be translated into English as "clean, prosperous, law-abiding, and friendly".

By the way, do you also notice the pedicabs (Indonesian: becak) parked in front of the banner? That's also another symbol: poverty! Can he really address that problem when he is elected? Only God knows.


Bandung Daily Photo