Voting began on the morning of the 14th in Indonesia's presidential election, which has over 200 million voters and is said to be the world's largest direct election. Many voters are coming to the polling stations to vote for the next president for the first time in 10 years.
Voting for Indonesia's presidential election began on the 14th at more than 820,000 polling stations across the country, with voters arriving one after another to cast their votes at polling stations in the capital, Jakarta.
Three people are running for the presidential election: Defense Minister Prabowo, former Jakarta Governor Anis, and former Central Java Governor Ganjar.
The constitution prohibits the incumbent President Joko Widodo from running for a third term, so the main issue in the election campaign is whether to continue or reform the policies of the Joko administration, which enjoys a high approval rating.
According to the latest public opinion poll conducted as of the 5th of this month, Prabowo, who has declared himself the successor to President Joko Widodo and has selected the president's eldest son as his vice presidential candidate, has an approval rating of over 50%, far surpassing the other two candidates. We're pulling apart.
However, if no candidate receives a majority of votes, a run-off election between the top two candidates will be held this June.
Voting will close at all polling stations by 3:00 pm Japan time on the 14th, and votes will be counted on the same day.
Voters in the capital Jakarta
A 25-year-old office worker who visited a polling station in the capital, Jakarta, said, ``Since Mr. Prabowo is President Joko Widodo's successor, I support Mr. Prabowo for the development of Indonesia.He can open up our future.'' He hoped that Mr. Prabowo would continue the policies of the current President Joko Widodo.
On the other hand, a 57-year-old unemployed man said, ``President Joko Widodo's policies are focused on infrastructure development such as roads, and he does not pay attention to the lives of ordinary people.I want the next president to control the rise in food prices.'' ``Even rice is so expensive that I can't buy it,'' he said, hoping for reforms in economic policy and other areas.