INDONESIA: Indonesia's presidential election campaigning comes to an end ahead of polls opening on July 9

Record ID: 347921

  • Title: INDONESIA: Indonesia's presidential election campaigning comes to an end ahead of polls opening on July 9
  • Date: 5th July 2014
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF JOKOWI ARRIVING ON STAGE
  • Embargoed: 20th July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADHH7BWCMH8Q0YNP0LUO6W6PEW
  • Story Text: After a month of touring the country, campaigning for Indonesia's presidential election finally came to an end on Saturday (July 5).
    This year, over 186 million voters are expected to go to the polls on July 9 to choose between ex-general Prabowo Subianto and incumbent Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, who is locally known as Jokowi.
    In the capital, Jokowi addressed over 20,000 supporters at a free concert organised by a number of Indonesian artists who threw their support behind him.

    "We come to help solve all the problems, not to add to problems in the country," he said in Jakarta's main stadium.
    The month-long campaign period saw both candidates visit voters from the western-most Papua Province to the Muslim majority Aceh Province in the northwestern tip of the archipelago.
    During one of the last official campaign rallies in West Java, Subianto, previously a vice presidential candidate in the 2004 and 2009 elections, said he would keep democracy on the right path.

    "We are a democracy and democracy is people power, but there is someone who would change it into a kleptocracy, and you know that the "klepto" means thieving or stealing, so the thief wants to be in power," he told supporters.
    The campaign officially ended after a televised debate discussing "Food, Energy and Environment Issues" between the presidential and vice presidential candidates.
    A period where no candidates or supporters are allowed to campaign is set to follow, before polls open on July 9.
    Current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is barred by law from running in this election, will step down after two terms in office.
    This is the third direct presidential election after the nation ended 32 years of autocratic rule under former President Suharto.
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