With 171 million registered voters, major parties are expected to hold massive campaign rallies over the next 21 days and hundreds of thousands of police have been deployed to ensure security. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
JAKARTA - CAMPAIGNING for Indonesia's third general elections since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship got under way on Monday with the global economic crisis squarely at the forefront of voters' concerns.
Representatives of 38 parties met at an exhibition hall in the capital Jakarta to sign a joint declaration promising a peaceful campaign period leading up to the April 9 polls in the world's third-largest democracy.
Democratic Party likely to become biggest
THE outcome of the polls will have huge bearing on presidential elections set for July.
Parties need 25 per cent of the popular vote or 20 per cent of seats in the 560-seat House of Representatives to be able to nominate their own candidates for president.
JAKARTA - INDONESIANS go to the polls on April 9 to choose members of parliament, paving the way for the more important presidential election on July 8.
The official campaign season in South-east Asia's biggest economy kicked off on Monday. Here are some questions and answers about the elections.
The vote is taking place against slowing growth and rising unemployment in South-east Asia's biggest economy as demand for Indonesia's commodities exports plummets amid the world financial meltdown.
'I hope the political parties will not insult or violate each other in a way that could disintegrate into anarchy,' National Election Committee head Hafiz Anshary told the assembled party leaders. 'We can prove to the world that Indonesia is a well-mannered country with standards and integrity.'
With 171 million registered voters, major parties are expected to hold massive campaign rallies over the next 21 days and hundreds of thousands of police have been deployed to ensure security.
Indonesia has posted strong growth of about six percent a year since the end of the Suharto military dictatorship in 1998, marking the start of the 'Reformasi' era of democratic change.
But growth is expected to slow to about four per cent this year on the back of a sharp decline in exports, which fell 36 per cent year-on-year in January.
A decade of growth has made a handful of people incredibly wealthy and there is now a burgeoning middle class, but millions of poor Indonesians have seen little change in their daily lives since the end of the Suharto era.
Many do not understand what they are voting for and parties have been criticised for failing to spell out their policies on key issues such as the economy, corruption and management of the archipelago's vast natural resources.
Vote buying is rampant and candidates have complained that voters are offering to sell their support to the highest bidder. -- AFP
