Famous figures dominate votes for DPD race
Famous figures dominate votes for DPD race
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A recognizable face seem to be worth a great deal in the race for
Regional Representatives Council (DPD) seats across the country,
as the preliminary vote counting saw big names take the lead.
As of 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Ginandjar Kartasasmita headed the
poll in West Java province with 23,876 votes out of around
300,000 ballots counted.
Ginandjar is one of the country's longest serving ministers.
His term covered the era of former president Soeharto and his
successor BJ Habibie. Formerly a Golkar Party leader, Ginandjar
relinquished his post as the People's Consultative Assembly
deputy speaker to contest the unprecedented election of DPD
members.
Trailing Ginandjar is Mohammad Surya, former chairman of the
Indonesian Teacher Association (PGRI).
A West Java candidate has to win around 3 million votes to
secure a DPD seat.
Each province will elect four representatives in the DPD,
which will form the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) with the
legislators of the House of Representatives (DPR).
In Yogyakarta, Sultana Hemas, the wife of Sultan
Hamengkubowono X, took a commanding lead with 3,188 of around
10,000 votes counted, Benyamin Sumardi was a distant second with
511, followed by Ali Warsito with 433.
A DPD seat equals 1.5 million votes in the province.
From around 300,000 ballots counted in Central Java, Budi
Santosa, who aggressively introduced himself to the people during
the campaign period, led the field with 22,564 votes followed by
Prawasara with 20,800.
The leader of PGRI, Sudharto, was third place with 20,013
votes, while Nafisah Sahal, a Nahdatul Ulama (NU) Muslim
organization executive, and Dahlan Rais, a lecturer of Surakarta
Muhammadiyah University followed with 18,113 and 17,751
respectively.
Another popular name, Laode Ida, got off to a fine start in
the DPD race in Southeast Sulawesi with 2,483 votes. The
University of Indonesia sociologist, however, needs 350,000 more
votes to win a DPD seat.
Trailing behind Ida were Marwan Aidir, HT Jusrin, and Yoko
Yamasinogiri with 1,488, 1,323, and 790 votes each.
The Bali polls saw I Wayan Sudirtha top the standings with
9,995 out of 73,077 ballots counted. Ida Bagus Gede Agastya was a
distant second with 9,115 votes.
In West Sumatra, the competition remained tight with Irman
Gusman leading by a narrow margin with 244 votes, ahead of
Mawardi Yunus, Maswir Marajo, and Djamari Yoenoes who collected
198, 152, and 134 votes respectively.
The provisional results confirmed voters' preference for well-
known candidates or intellectuals.
"I will vote for people with many university degrees if I
don't know anything about them," a hotel employee in Tanah Abang,
Central Jakarta said recently.