DPD candidates upbeat over preliminary count
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Candidates for the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) in 32 provinces were closely monitoring on Monday the preliminary results of ballot counting with high hopes that they would get elected.
According to the existing law, each province will have four representatives in the DPD, considered to be the Indonesian version of the United States (U.S.) Senate.
Ballot counting at polling stations across the country showed DPD candidates that it is not as easy as it seems to secure seats in the newly introduced legislative body.
DPD candidates for East Java Mahmud Ali Zain and Mujib Imron led the tally in the preliminary ballot counting on Monday with 377 and 306 votes respectively.
Closely trailing behind them were candidates including Mashuri (200), Mardjito (188), Imron Djamil (159), Dede Oetomo (151), and Wasmoro (116). Other candidates got less than 100 votes.
Bambang Soeroso, a DPD candidate for Bengkulu, seemed to have attracted most support at three polling stations in Bengkulu municipality.
Several inmates of Bengkulu Penitentiary, however, acknowledged that they were not informed of the track records of candidates.
Dianto, who is serving a four-and-a-half-year prison term, said that exercising his constitutional right was like taking part in the lottery as he did not recognize any of the candidates.
In Makassar, South Sulawesi, voters questioned the Makassar Elections Commission (KPUD) for printing Mirdin Kasim's photograph on ballot papers, despite the fact that the candidate had passed away.
A KPUD member said that the printing of the ballot papers had been underway when Mirdin died.
Aksa Mahmud seemed to gain the most votes in the province as a preliminary ballot count revealed that he had won 141 votes in Makassar district.
Aksa, director of PT Bosowa, triumphed other 42 candidates at five polling stations. He was closely followed by Ishak Ngeljaratan (67 votes), Benyamin Bura (63), Alwi Hamu (53) and Ilham Alim Bahri (51).
DPD candidate Nyimas Ena took the lead in the preliminary ballot counting at a polling station in Kota Baru, Jambi.
Nyimas Ena collected 44 votes and was followed by chairman of the Jambi chapter of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) Sulaiman Abdullah (20 votes) and local journalist Muhammad Nasir (19 votes).
Some 21 votes were declared invalid for various reasons.
Muslim cleric Marwan Aidit and expert Laode Ida won the most votes in the preliminary ballot counting at some polling stations in Kendari municipality, Southeast Sulawesi.
Marwan and Laode were among 31 candidates contesting the election from Southeast Sulawesi.
At a polling station in Korumba village, Marwan got 25 percent of the votes, followed by Laode Ida.
Meanwhile, voters in the regency of Fakfak, Papua, could not exercise their constitutional right to vote for DPD candidates due to a shortage of ballot papers.
KPU member Muhamadon said that local voters still awaited the arrival of the ballot papers.
He added that the condition seriously disturbed the ballot counting process so that the official vote tally could only be available in a week.
Meanwhile, voters in Palembang, South Sumatra, showed their support of the only female DPD candidate Asmawati. Chairman of Palembang KPU Kemas Khoirul Muchlis said that the preliminary ballot count was not necessarily indicative of the final outcome.