Village Head Competes Against Own Wife in Re-election Bid

TEMPO.CO, North Penajam Paser - An election for village head in Wonosari Village, Sepaku Sub-district, North Penajam Paser District, East Kalimantan Province, has pitched the incumbent village head seeking re-election against his own wife.

"I and my wife are ready to lose, hence we have decided to not campaign for our candidacy and only encourage voters to cast their vote in the village election on December 15," Wonosari Village Head and incumbent in the local election Kasiyono said.

Kasiyono and his wife Emilia Kartika decided to file their candidacies on separate tickets for the village head position in Wonosari, during  simultaneous village head elections to be held in 14 villages in North Penajam Paser District.

Kasiyono also pledged to continue the development and optimise the management of Tapak Raja Cave as an eco-tourism destination in the village if voters granted him the second mandate over the village.

He recalled that in the last village head election, he won the election with over 80 per cent votes while his two rivals achieved only a combined 20 per cent of the votes.

"Six years ago, around 700 villagers were registered in the electoral roll, and out of  around 600 registered voters who cast their vote, I received the mandate from 80 per cent of the voters," Kasiyono said.

With the present electoral roll registered around 900 voters for the current election, he admitted to not setting a voting percentage target as he is competing against his own wife in the election.

Meanwhile, Kartika, who challenged her own husband for the village head position, declared that she is ready to lose the election and optimistic that her husband would win the election.

Kartika revealed that she in fact urged residents to vote for her husband instead.

"I decided to file my candidacy on the eleventh-hour of the village head candidate registration because, until nearly the deadline, my husband was the only candidate available. The election would have been delayed if only one candidate was standing," Kartika stated.

The deadline for village head registration was September 21, and the registration would have  been extended for 20 days if only one candidate registered as the deadline passed, she added.

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ANTARA