Indonesians vote in local elections, litmus test for 2019 presidential vote

Observers monitor the results of Islamist political formations. More than half of those eligible to vote in the Pilkada reside on the island of Java. Imposing security measures set up for voting. Fears of possible attacks by terrorists of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (Jad). Surveys suggest that candidates supported by President Widodo will win in key provinces like West Java.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Over 152 million Indonesians, more than half of the population, are today called to vote for the Pilkada, the administrative elections that will elect 17 provincial governors, 39 mayors and 115 regents throughout the country.

According to observers, they prepare the ground for next year's parliamentary and presidential elections, when President Joko Widodo will run for the second term. Widodo has pledged to protect the Indonesian tradition of pluralism and moderate Islam, but will have to overcome the Islamist pressures of the most radical political movements.

Imposing security measures prepared for voting, following a series of suicide bombings in Surabaya and threats to polling stations by Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (Jad) terrorists. Last week, the authorities sentenced to death Aman Abdurrahman, the spiritual leader of the largest terrorist group linked to the nation's Islamic State (IS).

According to police spokesman Setyo Wasisto, fears of possible reprisal actions are one of the reasons for greater staff mobilization. "We are carrying out regular police operations and we have deployed 171,000 men alongside the army," says Wasisto.

More than half of those eligible to vote in the Pilkada reside on the island of Java. There are 47 million citizens in the province of West Java alone, around the same population as Spain. Polls suggest that candidates supported by President Widodo's coalition parties will win in key provinces like West Java. However, the results of the Islamist political formations will attract the attention of observers.

In 2017, opposition parties had allied with Islamic groups; together they led the protests that culminated in the electoral defeat and in the blasphemy charges against the governor of Jakarta, the ethnic Chinese Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, ally of Joko. A positive result in today's vote would be a push for the presidential elections next year, when Widodo will run against the retired general Prabowo Subianto.

• indonesia
• politics
• elections
• administrative
• pilkada
• vote
• nationalists
• islamists
• joko widodo