Ballot Casting

Caption: A voter casts her ballot at a polling station in West Bandung in today.

Today Indonesian voters went the polling stations to elect their representatives in the regional and national legislative councils. "Pemilu Legislatif" (Legislative General Elections) is the first of the two-phase elections. In the second phase, Indonesians will cast their votes to elect their president and vice president for the next five year term.

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).

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.