Landmark direct election peaceful<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Except for a minor incident in Bali, Monday's runoff polls
\ncapping an eight-month election season went on relatively
\nsmoothly.<\/p>\n
Despite increasing security concerns after a bomb rocked
\nJakarta just 11 days earlier, with over 100 million voters
\ndirectly electing their new president.<\/p>\n
Most of the 550,000 polling stations completed the process on
\ntime, at 1 p.m. although, voter turnout seemed to be down a bit
\nfrom the first round in July when some 80 percent turned out.<\/p>\n
No clashes broke out, including in the politically sensitive
\nprovinces such as East Java and Yogyakarta, where the two pairs
\nof candidates Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi and Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla, campaigned intensely.<\/p>\n
Police quelled a protest by a dozen supporters of Megawati in
\nBali expressing disappointment as she looked set to be voted out
\nof office, AFP reported. The protesters burned a tire on the
\nstreet of Bali's capital Denpasar before police broke them up.<\/p>\n
In war-torn provinces such as Aceh and Papua, no clashes were
\nreported in an election earlier called one of the most complex in
\nthe world.<\/p>\n
The country is home to more than 17,000 islands covering a
\ndistance of some 5,000 kilometers, with many of those islands
\nvery isolated. In Papua some voters have to walk for two days to
\na polling station.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the nation was seemingly united in a festive mood
\nwith some polling station staff dressed in their traditional
\nattire.<\/p>\n
In a polling station in Bandung, West Java, election officials
\nwore the Cheong Sam Chinese dress. In Jakarta, officials in a
\nnumber of polling stations donned the indigenous Betawi attire.
\nIn Bali, like in previous elections, officials held traditional
\nrituals and dressed in the famous Balinese outfits.<\/p>\n
\"The election proves that economic crisis has raised the
\npeople's political consciousness. People are realizing that they
\nhave to fight for themselves,\" political analyst H.S. Dillon told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said that the direct election exercise had been an
\nexcellent system and the awareness of the people to take part
\nshould be highly received.<\/p>\n
KPU chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin said that during his visit
\nto Lampung on Monday he noticed that the election went as
\nscheduled and there had been no major disturbance.<\/p>\n
\"We are happy to see that the election went peacefully and as
\nplanned,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Analyst Dillon reminded the upcoming president not to turn
\ndown people's trust and he or she had to immediately engage in
\nefforts to boost the country's confidence.<\/p>\n
\"The upcoming president should give hope to the people within
\nthe first 100 days. People are willing to sacrifice if they could
\nhave a leader that they can trust,\" Dillon, coordinator of the
\nnon-government organization Partnership, said.<\/p>\n
The 1945 Constitution was amended in 2000 to make way for the
\ndirect presidential election. In the past, the president was
\nelected through the People's Consultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
The series of elections began on April 5 for the legislative
\nelection followed by the first round of the presidential election
\non July 5.<\/p>\n
Security was tight Monday with heavy presence of fully-armed
\nsecurity personnel at major roads in Denpasar, Kuta and Nusa Dua.<\/p>\n
In the easternmost province of Papua, people began pouring
\ninto the polling stations at around 9 a.m. Local KPU chief La
\nPona said that people appeared less enthusiastic compared to the
\nlegislative election.<\/p>\n
In East Java, home to the country's largest Islamic
\norganization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), voters headed to the polling
\nstations in an orderly manner, apparently not heeding an edict
\nissued for NU followers refrain from voting.<\/p>\n
In Pekanbaru, Riau and Kendari, West Nusa Tenggara, the
\nelection went off peacefully, but also with a relatively lower-
\nthan-expected voter turnout.<\/p>\n
Riau KPU chief Raja Sofyan Samad said polling stations were
\nnot as crowded as they were during the first round.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/landmark-direct-election-peaceful-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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