Police officers guard candidates

Police officers guard candidates

Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda

Police officers in the regency of Pasir in East Kalimantan, are
tightly guarding five candidates for regent as the local election
draws near.

"In order to prevent any untoward events, each regent hopeful
is being tightly guarded by two plainclothes police officers
until polling day in early July," said Aziz Muslim, the chief of
Pasir General Election Commission (KPUD), on Tuesday.

The extra security is being given to the five people after
they were officially named candidates a week ago. According to
Aziz, the extra security is necessary as political candidates
normally receive threats during election campaigns. The funding
for the bodyguards was allocated from the KPUD budget, said Azis.

The details on the security measures depends on the agreement
between the candidates and the police. However, the KPUD asks
that all candidates be guarded on a daily basis. "The regent
hopefuls have to be guarded 24-7 for their safety during the
runup to the election," Aziz reiterated.