Indonesia elections: everything you need to know

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, will cast about 205 million eligible voters on Wednesday in presidential and legislative elections, the fifth since Southeast Asia’s largest economy began democratic reforms in 1998. There is an election.

The vast archipelago of more than 270 million people across 17,000 islands and about 1,300 ethnic groups is a bastion of democracy in Southeast Asia, a diverse and economically vibrant region of authoritarian regimes, police states and nascent democracies.

What is at stake in the elections?

Presidential election will decide who will succeed President Joko WidodoJokowi, who is serving his second and final term.

Election situation seems to be brewing three way race between current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and two former governors, Anis Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes in the first round, a vote between the top two is scheduled for June 26.

thousands of candidates Nearly 20,000 national, provincial and district parliamentary posts are being contested in the world’s largest archipelagic country. Nearly 10,000 candidates from 18 political parties alone are contesting the 580-seat National Parliament.

Political parties are required to have at least one woman in every third position on their party lists, and parties need at least 4% of the votes nationwide to qualify for representation in the national parliament.

A party or coalition of parties needs to control at least 20% of the seats in the national parliament to nominate a presidential candidate.

How do Indonesia’s elections work?

Any Indonesian citizen aged 17 or older can vote, but members of the police and military are banned from voting, although their families can vote.

In this year’s election, about 52% of registered voters are below 40 years of age. A third of them are under the age of 30, which makes the “youth vote” important, and candidates are making concerted efforts to target them through social. Media campaign.

Voters can cast their ballots at more than 820,000 polling stations across three time zones in Indonesia. Polls will open at 7:00 am and close at 1:00 pm and will be monitored by approximately 7 million election officials and independent workers. Indonesians living abroad have been voting at 3,000 polling stations in several countries or by mail since February 5.

Once entering the polling station, a voter must deal with five ballot papers simultaneously and one of three pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates, as well as national, provincial, regional, regency and city level representatives. Have to choose, so that it can be maximum. Complex elections in the world.

Counting of votes is done publicly at polling stations.

Why do these elections matter?

Located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Indonesia is the world’s largest island chain and stretches the same distance from New York to London. It is the fourth most populous country in the world with a rich cultural heritage and diverse natural resources. About 90% of Indonesia’s 277 million people are Muslim, making it the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.

Indonesia’s strategic location also gives it geopolitical importance, and as a member of several international organizations, including the United Nations, g20 And asean, It plays an important role in regional and global affairs. Indonesia’s political stability plays a central role in maintaining regional peace and stability.

What is Widodo’s role in the elections?

There is uneasiness in civil society that Widodo wants to retain influence even after leaving office. In recent times activists, students and university lecturers have expressed concerns over democratic standards in Indonesia, citing unethical, corrupt and nepotistic practices and deteriorating quality of life in the country.

Widodo has faced increasing criticism over his lack of neutrality since he threw his support behind front-runner Subianto, who chose Widodo’s son is his partner. Widodo has distanced himself from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, under whose banner he contested elections in 2014 and 2019. Party nominated Ganjar Pranovo and the former top security minister in his cabinet, Mohammed Mahfoud, as presidential and vice presidential candidate.

Who is likely to win the presidency?

Since there are three presidential candidates running, electoral rules require a candidate to win at least 50% of the national vote and at least 20% of the vote in each province to avoid a runoff.

Various polling organizations have predicted this Subianto And his vice presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka will likely win in the first round. But whether he will get enough votes to win the election outright or be forced to concede defeat is still unclear as observers say undecided voters will have a significant impact on the outcome. Nearly a fifth of Indonesians fell into this category in surveys conducted in late December.

The new president will be inaugurated on October 20 and must appoint a cabinet within two weeks.

When are results expected?

The official vote counting process, which is lengthy and laborious, can take up to 35 days to complete, the maximum time regulated by election law.

But the public can expect a number of preliminary vote count results based on sampling, as registered private polling and survey groups will deploy thousands of volunteers and staff at polling stations across the country.

The preliminary results, widely known as the “quick count”, are considered a reliable indicator of what the official count will show when all the votes have been counted in about a month.