2019 Election Campaign Starts Off with Peace Declaration

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The two pairs of Indonesia`s presidential and vice presidential candidates as well as leaders of their coalition parties attended the declaration of peaceful election campaigns on Sunday by wearing traditional attires.

Held by the General Election Commission (KPU) at the National Monument area, which has become the icon of the country`s capital city Jakarta for decades the declaration sent a message of the importance of preserving the nation`s unity in diversity.

Incumbent President Joko Widodo and his running mate Muslim cleric Ma`ruf Amin wore the traditional dresses of the Balinese and Betawi people respectively while the Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno pair put the attires of different ethnic groups on.

Prabowo wore a Javanese traditional dress, combined with brown Batik and "Blangkon" (traditional Javanese hat) while his running mate, Sandiaga Uno, wore a brown Malay outfit, known as "Teluk Belanga".

Among the elites of political parties, who joined the declaration, were Democrat Party leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, General Chairman of the National Mandate Party Zulkifli Hasan, and General Chairman of the Berkarya Party Hutomo Mandala Putra.

Besides them, the United Development Party leader Romahurmuziy, General Chairman of the Crescent and Star Party Yusril Ihza Mahendra, and Secretary General of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle Hasto Kristiyanto were also seen among the VIP guests.

The declaration of the peaceful election campaigns was also attended by Police Chief General Tito Karnavian as well as the representatives of the General Election Commission (KPU) and Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu).

Incumbent President Joko Widodo and his coalition parties support his efforts to grab a victory in the 2019 Presidential Election.

As a cadre of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the incumbent head of state`s presidential nomination is backed by the Megawati Soekarnoputri-led party and eight other political parties.

The eight parties comprise the PPP, Golkar Party, National Democratic Party, National Awakening Party, the United Indonesia Party, Indonesian Justice and Unity Party, and Indonesia Solidarity Party.

This pair is challenged by Chief Patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, Sandiaga Uno. They are supported by the Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party, National Mandate Party, Democratic Party, and Berkarya Party.

The KPU had set a draw of numbers on ballots for the 2019 Presidential Election on Friday evening, where the Joko Widodo-Ma`ruf Amin pair got number one, and the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno drew number two.

ANTARA