East Java's first direct election kicks off in Banyuwangi
East Java's first direct election kicks off in Banyuwangi
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Banyuwangi
Kasiyan stopped his bicycle right next to a voting booth in
Sringging village, in the East Java town of Banyuwangi. In a
rush, the 69-year-old entered the 42-square-meter tent.
"Am I late?" he asked in a thick Maduranese accent to a guard.
"No you're not, go ahead," the guard replied back.
The man then entered the booth situated in the center of a
coconut grove and submitted his registration form to an official.
"I want to ask something, my wife is paralyzed and can't come
here. Can I represent her?" he asked innocently.
"Sorry sir, no," the official told him. Nodding his head,
Kasiyan went to the voting booth.
On Monday, Kasiyan was one of the eager voters showing up to
vote in Banyuwangi's regental election -- the first direct
elections of regional heads in East Java. Four other regencies,
Situbondo, Ngawi, Ponorogo and Sumenep, also started the
elections for their regional heads on Monday.
In Banyuwangi, five teams of candidates are contesting the
regental election. They are Achmad Wahyudi-Eko Sukardono
(National Awakening Party, PKB); Achmad Masduki Soe'oed-Syafi'i
(Democratic Party); Soesanto Soewandi-Abdul Kadir (Golkar Party);
Ratna Ani Lestari-Yusuf Nuris (coalition of 18 political
parties); and Ali Sa'roni-Yusuf Widiatmoko (Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle, PDIP).
In Situbondo, three teams of candidates -- Soedirdjo-Amam
Suradji (PDIP-Golkar Party), Ismunarso-Suroso (United Development
Party, PPP); and Akik Zaman-Edi Kusnaedi Hamdun (PKB) -- are
contesting the regental election.
In Ponorogo, the regental election sees competition between
two teams of candidates: Supriyanto-Handoko Sudirsman (PDIP); and
Supadjar-Muryanto (a coalition of 18 parties).
Five teams of candidates -- Abuya Busro Karim-Mochammad Ramli
(PKB); M. Afif Hasan-Malik Effendi (National Mandate Party,
PDIP); M. Ramdlan Siraj-Mochammad Dahlan (PPP); Abdul Muiz
Aliwafa-Siti Aisyah (coalition of 18 political parties); and
Abdul Madjid Tawil-Abdul Wakir Abdullah (Golkar Party) -- are
contesting the election in Sumenep. In Ngawi, two teams,
Budijono-Sudariono (PKB) and Harsono-Budi Sulistyono (PDIP-Golkar
Party), are contesting.
Among the five regencies, Banyuwangi is getting the most
attention with its 1.2 million voters. There were fears that the
election there would be disrupted by supporters of Samsul Hadi-
Gatot Siradjuddin of PKB, who were prevented from participating
in the election.
A day before the election, on Sunday, there was reportedly a
mix-up in the list of voters in the regency due to limited
preparation time. Some fake registration forms were reportedly
also found in Licin district.
"The (mix up of the) list of voters might become a (serious)
problem in the Banyuwangi election, but hopefully not," Hari
Prayitno, a member of Banyuwanti Election Committee, told The
Jakarta Post.
In general, the Banyuwangi election proceeded with no
significant problems recorded in 2,499 voting booths across the
regency's 24 districts.
However, Banyuwangi regent Samsul Hadi, who did not run in the
election, decided not to vote, putting his blank voting paper
directly into the box at the Temengunggan voting booth. "I did
this for justice. If I voted, there would be jealousy," he said
without explaining further.
East Java Governor Imam Utomo, who inspected the voting
process in Karang Rejo and Taman Baru subdistricts, guaranteed
that the election would be conflict-free.
As of 4 p.m. on Monday, the team of Ratna Ani Lestari-Yusuf
Nuris obtained 90,124 votes from 21 districts. They were followed
by Soesanto Soewandi-Abdul Kadir with 41,850 votes, and Achmad
Wahyudi-Eko Sukardono, who were earlier predicted to win the
election, in third place with 34,832 votes.