Indonesians Should Vote for Environment-Conscious Candidates: Walhi
Jakarta. Indonesians should vote for environment-conscious leaders, as the country is facing an ecological emergency, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, or Walhi, said on Wednesday (17/01).
This year, Indonesians will elect regional leaders, while next year they will be choosing their president and legislators.
Walhi's executive director Nur Hidayati said the elections can be treated by candidates as a venue for political transactions, which may threaten the country's environmental sustainability.
"It may be a means for them to strengthen their economic and political power, not to save the environment, as [they can] undertake political efforts to exploit natural resources in their constituencies, for instance," Nur said in Jakarta.
Environment-related campaigning, however, is very possible ahead of the elections, she said, giving the case of the world's second most polluted river, the Citarum River in West Java, as an example.
"We can see that the communities living nearby the Citarum River are already aware of the dangers coming from the pollution of the river," she said.
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