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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

2015 Indonesian Regional Election Wednesday Dec 09,2015

 
Tens of millions of Indonesians were voting Wednesday Dec 09,2015 in the country`s first nationwide regional elections, the latest step in years-long efforts to strengthen democracy following the end of authoritarian rule.
 
About 100 million voters are eligible to elect 269 provincial governors, district heads and city mayors, with polls taking place in around half the local administrations of the world`s third-biggest democracy.
 
Direct elections for local leaders were introduced a decade ago, when power was heavily decentralised as democratic reforms were rolled out in the years after the 1998 downfall of dictator Suharto.

President Joko Widodo rose to power thanks to the system, starting his political career as a city mayor. Local leader polls were abolished last year after a parliament vote pushed by Widodo`s rivals, but reinstated several months later following an outcry.

Never before have so many been held at the same time, however, with local polls in the past taking place across the country on a rolling basis.

By holding votes simultaneously, election officials hope to make the system more efficient and save money, and plan to eventually have local polls across the whole country at the same time.

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