Govt's Vulnerability Index Identifies Potential Conflict Spots During 2018 Regional Elections
Jakarta. The Indonesian government is drawing up an index of its regions considered prone to conflicts and election frauds during next year's simultaneous polls in 171 provinces, cities and districts, a minister said on Monday (23/10).
The index identifies potential problems ranging from poll officials' partiality, money politics, smear campaigns to election lawsuits, Chief Security Minister Wiranto said.
"This is part of early prevention efforts," Wiranto told reporters in Jakarta during a national coordination meeting to prepare for the elections.
Wiranto's office — the Coordinating Ministry for Politics, Legal Affairs and Security — is working with the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) to publish the election vulnerability index later this month.
"We've got enough time to solve these problems," Wiranto said. "We'll do it systematically. First we have to identify which regions are prone to such problems."
Wiranto called for improved coordination among regional governments, poll officials, political parties, security forces and members of the broader public to keep next year's elections safe.
The Indonesian police have earlier vowed to beef up security during the polls. Voting is scheduled to be held in June next year after a four-month campaign period that begins in February.
The world’s third largest democracy’s first-ever simultaneous legislative and presidential elections will follow in 2019.
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