COURT VERDICT ON ELECTION DISPUTE BEST FOR NATION

Jakarta, Aug 12 (ANTARA) – The Constitutional Court (MK) decision on Wednesday over an election dispute is the best for the nation because it has considered all aspects, while Megawati and Jusuf Kalla who filed lawsuits are expected to accept it wholeheartedly so that the General Elections Commission (KPK) could focus on its next tasks, observers say. “Should the MK accept the lawsuits and decide to call for an election rerun, it would create uncertainties and seriously affect the economy as well as business players, investors in particular,” political observer Sanggam Hutapea said after attending the MK hearing on Wednesday.

IMAGE, POPULARITY DECISIVE FACTORS FOR SBY’S VICTORY

Jakarta, July 9 (ANTARA) – Most of Indonesian voters made their choice in Wednesday’s presidential elections based on the candidates’ popularity so that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), who has been building his public image, was able, based on quick counts, to win the July 8, 2009 presidential elections. “The popularity of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) was a decisive factor for his victory in Wednesday’s presidential election,” Executive Director of the Research Center of the University of Indonesia (UI)’s Faculty for Socio-Political Sciences, Sri Budi Eko Wardani, said.

SBY IS THE WINNER ACCORDING TO QUICK COUNTS

Jakarta, July 8 (ANTARA) – Incumbent President Susilo Bambgang Yudhoyono (SBY) who pairs with Boediono in the 2009 presidential election is almost certain to win Wednesday’s presidential poll based on the results of a quick count by a survey institute. “The votes counted have reached 87.57 percent, meaning the election returns have stabilized. So, it can be said that the SBY-Boediono pair is the winner,” executive director of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) Kuskrido Ambardi said referring to the results of the quick count conducted by LSI hours after vote counting at polling station level began on Wednesday.

COURT ALLOWS UNREGISTERED VOTERS TO VOTE USING IDs

Jakarta, July 6 (ANTARA) – The Constitutional Court (MK) ruled on Monday evening that eligible voters who were not registered with the electoral rolls (DPT) were allowed to exercise their voting rights in Wednesday’s presidential polls by producing valid ID cards or passports.
The MK made the decision after two petitioners filed a judicial review with the court on the presidential and vice presidential election law which stipulated that voters who were allowed to cast ballots in the presidential polls were those already registered with the permanent voter’s rolls.

ELECTION BODY CALLED ON TO BE TRANSPARENT

Jakarta, July 3 (ANTARA) – In the runup to the presidential polls on Wednesday next week, the General Elections Commission (KPU) had been urged to immediately settle the problems of unregistered voters and voters’ card duplications as well as organize the election transparently without taking sides with any of the three presidential candidates.

SBY FACING TWO RIVALS IN NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNS

Jakarta, June 29 (ANTARA) – Presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) so far seemed to be alone in the negative campaign war, receiving attacks from his two competitors, Megawati Soekarnoputri and Jusuf Kalla who almost never attacked each other.
According to a survey, Jusuf Kalla, who pairs up with Wiranto (JK-WIN), launched most of his negative campaigns against SBY and his running mate Boediono (SBY-Boediono). At the same time, Megawati and her running mate Prabowo Subianto (Mega-Pro) also directed most of her criticism to the SBY-Boediono camp.

CAMPAIGN ON SINGLE-ROUND ELECTIONS DANGEROUS

akarta, June 26 (ANTARA) – Experts have warned the public about the danger of the campaign of a certain presidential success team to finish the upcoming presidential elections in a single round.The campaign to finish the presidential race in one round could lead to justification of any means and dishonest practices. After all, the reference they use to launch the campaign is the results of allegedly biased poll surveys. This will fool the public, they say.

OBSERVERS DOUBT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES’ PROMISES

Jakarta, June 24 (ANTARA) – Economic observers and analysts have expressed doubts over promises made by presidential candidates who are campaigning for the upcoming presidential polls, saying that their high economic targets are unrealistic while what they have to focus on is how to improve the quality, not how to boost the figure, of the country’s economic growth.

JK-WIN DUO GAINING WIDER SUPPORT FROM MUSLIM VOTERS

Jakarta, June 22 (ANTARA) – Although until recently, various public opinion polls showed the Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto (JK-WIN) presidential election ticket to be trailing behind the two other pairs, it is now increasingly getting wide support from Muslim clerics and Muslim organizations. After gaining support from at least 1,500 Muslim clerics in East Java on Sunday, the JK-WIN duo on Monday received a promise of support from about 18 million members of Islamic study and prayer groups throughout the country.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES’ PROGRAM UNREALISTIC: OBSERVERS

Jakarta, May 24 (ANTARA) – The three presidential tickets that will compete in the upcoming July 8, 2009 presidential race have begun this week debating their economic development concepts. However none of them seemed to have realistic programs. The programs they offered are rather normative, merely designed to attract support to win the July contest, observers say.