Indonesian voters will go to the polls on Wednesday to choose local leaders in the country’s first-ever simultaneous regional election (pilkada), local media reported.
Voting began at 7 a.m. local Jakarta time (0000GMT) on Wednesday and will continue until 1 p.m. (0600GMT), The Jakarta Post reported.
This is the first simultaneous and largest regional election in the country’s history, in which more than 200 million registered voters will choose 37 governors, 93 mayors, 415 regents and their respective deputies.
Each voter will receive multiple ballots in their respective regions, including one for governor and another for mayor or regent.
President Prabowo Subianto, who participated in the vote in West Java, said the election results should bring people together. The Jakarta Globe quoted him as saying:
“Every election has winners and losers. Those who win must lead for everyone, and those who lose must collaborate. The most important thing is serving and working for the people.”
Local elections often reflect political dynamics at the national level, with the heated Jakarta gubernatorial election in 2017 being a prime example. However, recent political developments suggest that the stakes in this round of elections are particularly high, as it is looking increasingly likely that the outcome of this election will shape the country’s political dynamics over the next five years.
As many analysts suggest, this pilkada has become a battleground for the new oligarchic alliances formed after the 2024 presidential election: the Prabowo Subianto-Joko Widodo alliance and the Megawati Sukarnoputri-Anisa Baswedan alliance.
The counting of votes will begin immediately after the polls close and will continue until December 16.
