Indonesians will go to the polls on February 14 in what’s dubbed a “festival of democracy”.
They are going to be selecting not solely a brand new president and vice chairman but additionally parliamentary and native representatives – on the planet’s largest single-day election.
Greater than 204 million of Indonesia’s 270 million individuals are registered to vote, and whereas voting will not be obligatory, election day is a public vacation so turnout is mostly excessive – 81 % on the final election in 2019, in line with Indonesia’s Common Election Fee.
There are 18 nationwide political events throughout Indonesia, with 575 parliamentary seats up for grabs.
The present Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, popularly often called Jokowi, has already served the utmost two phrases in workplace, so this 12 months’s election will mark the primary change in management in 10 years.
Even Sembiring, the director of the Indonesian Discussion board for Surroundings in Riau (WALHI Riau) described the election as an “opportunity for healing” for Indonesian voters and “an important moment of potential to restore Indonesia for the next five years”.
Nevertheless, some imagine that whoever wins, it’s prone to be enterprise as regular on the planet’s third-largest democracy.
“Given the relatively thin policy platforms of the three candidates and the fact that they’ve all largely pledged continuity, and been governors or cabinet members, it’s not a particularly significant departure from Jokowi’s platform,” mentioned Judith Jacob, the director of geopolitical threat and safety intelligence in danger administration firm Ahead International.
Right here is all it’s good to know in regards to the election.
Who’re the candidates?
There are three presidential and vice presidential pairings vying for the highest jobs together with a former army common, a one-time educational and a self-professed “man of the people”.
Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka:
Prabowo Subianto is a 72-year-old former army strongman and Indonesia’s present defence minister. He’s operating for the highest job for a 3rd time, having misplaced to Jokowi in 2014 and 2019.
Prabowo has lengthy been criticised for his time within the army and has been accused of, however by no means charged with, the kidnappings of greater than 20 pro-democracy activists on the finish of the Nineties, a few dozen of whom have by no means been discovered.
He has additionally been accused of human rights abuses in East Timor and Papua and was discharged from the army in 1998 and banned from getting into america till 2020, after he grew to become defence minister underneath Jokowi.
His operating mate, 36-year-old Gibran Rakabuming Raka, can be a controversial candidate.
Gibran is Jokowi’s eldest son and was initially thought of out of the operating as he didn’t meet the minimal 40-year-old age requirement for presidential and vice presidential candidates. Nevertheless, Indonesia’s Constitutional Courtroom dominated final October that youthful candidates might run if that they had beforehand been elected to public workplace, a call that cleared the best way for Gibran, who’s the present mayor of Surakarta, often known as Solo.
The choice was clouded by accusations of nepotism as a result of the top of the courtroom on the time was Anwar Usman, Jokowi’s brother-in-law.
Prabowo is the top of Gerindra, a nationalist, right-wing populist political celebration, and has the backing of a coalition of different events together with Golkar and the Nationwide Mandate Social gathering (PAN).
Though Prabowo and Gibran don’t have Jokowi’s specific endorsement (the incumbent president is meant to stay impartial), they’re seen because the “continuity” candidates.
They’ve pledged to maneuver forward with Jokowi’s initiative to make Indonesia one of many world’s prime 5 largest economies by 2045, in addition to lots of his infrastructure initiatives together with shifting the capital from Jakarta to the purpose-built metropolis of Nusantara on the island of Borneo.
Prabowo has additionally mentioned he plans to construct three million new houses in rural, coastal and concrete areas, and launch a free lunch programme for schoolchildren in a coverage designed to fight stunting.
Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD:
Ganjar Pranowo is the 55-year-old former governor of Central Java and is a member of the Indonesian Democratic Social gathering of Battle (PDI-P), a secular nationalist political celebration that backed Jokowi for the presidency in 2014 and 2019 and is led by Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno.
Ganjar is operating with 66-year-old Mahfud MD, the previous coordinating minister for political, authorized and safety affairs, and the candidates even have the assist of the United Growth Social gathering (PPP), the Individuals’s Conscience Social gathering (Hanura) and the Indonesian Unity Social gathering (Perindo).
Ganjar and Mahfud have pitched themselves as two males of humble origins who perceive the individuals of Indonesia.
They are saying they’ve travelled the size and breadth of the nation to hearken to the issues of strange Indonesians, and have run a marketing campaign based mostly on bettering their lives, partly via the broader distribution of social help underneath a programme often called KTP Sakti.
They’ve additionally pledged to boost salaries for civil servants, academics and lecturers.
Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar:
Anies Baswedan is the previous governor of Jakarta and is operating as an unbiased and “opposition” candidate within the election. The 54-year-old was educated within the US, entered academia and later went into politics as schooling minister.
He sparked controversy when he ran for the governorship of Jakarta in 2017 and was accused of utilizing id politics towards his rival Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly often called Ahok, who ended up jailed for blasphemy.
Anies’s operating mate Muhaimin Iskandar, 57, is the deputy speaker of the Individuals’s Consultant Council and the chief of the Nationwide Awakening Social gathering (PKB), the biggest Muslim political celebration in Indonesia. They’re additionally backed by the NasDem celebration and one other Muslim celebration, the Affluent Justice Social gathering (PKS).
Anies and Muhaimin are operating on a promise to make Indonesia “just and prosperous” by, amongst different issues, constructing 40 new cities throughout the nation and cancelling Jokowi’s plan for Nusantara.
They’ve additionally pledged to advertise equal alternatives for small enterprise homeowners with a view to create extra jobs throughout Indonesia.
What are the primary election points?
As in lots of international locations world wide, Indonesians’ foremost concern is the price of dwelling and with the ability to present for themselves and their households.
Financial development slowed to five.05 % in 2023 in contrast with 5.3 % the 12 months earlier than, in line with Statistics Indonesia, principally on account of weak exports and decrease commodity costs.
With individuals underneath 40 making up about half the entire variety of registered voters, employment is a key concern.
In response to Statistics Indonesia, the unemployment price in August 2023 was 5.32 % and the common month-to-month wage throughout Indonesia was 3.18 million rupiahs ($203).
Different points embody human rights and democratic decline in Indonesia, with pupil protests flaring throughout college campuses in latest weeks as employees and college students at a few of Indonesia’s largest and most distinguished universities together with Gadjah Mada College in Yogyakarta and Universitas Indonesia have spoken out in regards to the want for truthful and clear elections.
“The student actions over the past few days have the potential to be Indonesia’s largest student protest movement since 1997 and 1998. There are more students and university leaders expressing their concerns and grievances during the current protests compared to the other protests,” Alex Arifianto, a analysis fellow on the S Rajaratnam College of Worldwide Research (RSIS) in Singapore, informed Al Jazeera.
“The government has to be very careful in how it chooses to deal with the new movement, especially if it grows faster after February 14 if students become unhappy with the results.”
How does the election work?
Come February 14, polling stations throughout Indonesia’s three time zones (GMT +7/8/9), will open at 7am and shut at 1pm.
All voters over the age of 17 can be given 5 totally different poll papers to decide on presidential and vice presidential candidates, in addition to representatives at nationwide, provincial, regional, and regency and metropolis ranges. Relying on the world, some polling stations are prone to see lengthy queues as voters end up early in an effort to flee the searing Indonesian warmth that builds all through the day.
Within the voting sales space, individuals make their selection by piercing the poll paper with a nail in a course of often called “coblos” which suggests “to punch”. It’s felt that utilizing a nail to punch a gap within the poll paper makes it tougher to control votes.
Votes are counted in public at polling stations, with the paper ballots held up so everybody can see the sunshine shining via the pierced gap because the names of the chosen candidates are learn aloud. As soon as they’ve voted, each voter dips their little finger in indelible ink to protect towards casting a number of votes.
“The anatomy of the sheer numbers of voters involved makes the Indonesian election the largest one-day election in the world,” Titi Anggraini, an advisory board member of the Affiliation for Elections and Democracy and a constitutional regulation lecturer at Universitas Indonesia, informed Al Jazeera.
“The combination of simultaneous elections with an open proportional system which is carried out manually also makes the Indonesian election one of the most complicated and complex elections in the world.”
The method on the polling stations can be overseen by about seven million election officers and unbiased employees.
In 2019, greater than 890 election employees died following the exhaustive polls.
When can we anticipate a end result?
There are greater than 820,000 polling stations throughout Indonesia, an archipelago made up of some 17,000 islands, and the rely begins as quickly as voting closes.
Many polling stations use a “quick count” – based mostly on a sampling methodology – to provide an early indication of the place issues are headed.
A preliminary end result from the elections fee is prone to be introduced on the night of February 14, however the official end result might take so long as 35 days. A lot is dependent upon whether or not the vote is shut.
Any authorized complaints by any of the candidates concerned, together with the three units of presidential and vice presidential hopefuls, will should be filed inside 35 days of the election.
On his earlier two outings, Prabowo challenged the end result via Indonesia’s Constitutional Courtroom.
In 2019, the authorized problem and accusation of vote rigging and poll tampering sparked violent protests throughout the nation that left 9 individuals useless.
Who can vote?
Any Indonesian citizen who’s 17 or older can vote.
About 52 % of registered voters are underneath the age of 40, and a few third of the entire are underneath the age of 30, making the “youth vote” an essential one.
This 12 months, 49.91 % of registered voters are male and 50.09 % are feminine.
Members of the Indonesian police and the army are banned from voting.
What occurs after February 14?
Presidential candidates want 50 % of the general vote and at the least 20 % of votes in every province with a view to declare victory. Political events want 4 % of the vote with a view to enter parliament.
In response to many Indonesian pollsters, Prabowo is main the polls, though he continues to hover near the 50 % mark, that means that he might not be capable of declare an outright win within the first spherical.
If no single candidate passes the 50 % threshold, the highest two candidate pairs will go right into a second and ultimate spherical on June 26.
The brand new president can be inaugurated in October.