INDONESIA: Indonesian presidential candidates take to cyberspace despite a tiny online community

Record ID: 345469

  • Title: INDONESIA: Indonesian presidential candidates take to cyberspace despite a tiny online community
  • Date: 5th July 2009
  • Summary: COMPUTER SCREEN WITH YUDHOYONO'S SITE ON IT
  • Embargoed: 20th July 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Communications,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAK0B57F9DU023MSNPXCDU7THH
  • Story Text: Inspired by President Barack Obama's triumph in the U.S. presidential elections last year on the back of a successful Internet campaign, Indonesian presidential hopefuls are gravitating to cyberspace to attract support and votes for the July 8 elections despite a tiny online community.
    The campaign has expanded to multimedia websites, Facebook pages, YouTube and Twitter accounts from the traditional media of newspapers, radio and television which Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, used to great effect.
    The three pairs of candidates launched their online campaigns on June 2 ahead of mass rallies that began June 11, focusing on the younger generation, the educated and those abroad who will be among the 176 million registered voters casting ballots for a president.
    This is the second such direct presidential elections in Indonesia with the first being in 2004. Previous presidents were elected by the parliament.
    Incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Boediono are facing incumbent vice-president Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto apart from former president Megawati Sukarnoputri and her vice-presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in the polls at the archipelago of 17,000 islands.
    Yudhoyono is campaigning on his track record of bringing growth and cleaning up endemic corruption in the country while Megawati is promising greater attention on the poor, who form more than half of the country's 230 million population.
    Jusuf Kalla from the formerly dominant Golkar party is playing his image as a decisive politician who will ensure the country develops at a faster pace.
    "I prefer this media than other methods of campaigning. With the internet we know what their (presidential candidates) programmes are," internet user, Dani, told Reuters at an internet café in capital Jakarta.
    Most of the younger generation who use the internet agree with its effectiveness.
    "It is effective (internet) of course. We can search their political programme and an update of the political campaign," said Andreas.
    While wired internet connections are only available in most major cities in the vast archipelago due to high infrastructure costs and personal computers, wireless communications through cell phones and Blackberry devices have made it easier for Indonesians to get information from the candidates and their campaigns.
    "It is easier for me to know their (presidential candidates) vision, mission and programmes through my Blackberry," said office worker, Dian Safitry.
    For those working on the presidential campaigns, the internet campaign is still important despite the tiny footprint.
    "The numbers on the internet are small but it is effective enough to influence the voters," Marzukie Ali, secretary of Yudhoyono's campaign team told Reuters in an interview, adding the websites add a new dimension to political communication by delivering the essence of the campaign to voters and providing an archive for them to use in electing their next president.
    Information technology expert Onno W. Purbo agreed, saying the younger generation are more savvy and want to know more about the candidates.
    "If we want to deal with the younger generation, the internet is an effective way. As we know, the younger generation will increase as time goes by," Onno told Reuters.
    He added the internet also provided an extra dimension as it allowed for two-way communication and feedback between the campaign and the people.
    The number of Internet users in Indonesia have increased significantly from two million users out of 206 million people (one percent of the population) in 2000 to some 25 million users out of 237 million people (10.5 percent of the population) in 2008, according to records from the Indonesia Internet Network Information Association.
    ENDS.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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