Bali’s much-lauded ex-police chief I Made Mangku Pastika was voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday as the island’s next governor, replacing the incumbent Dewa Made Beratha, whose term concludes in August.
Counting of Ballot papers is not due to be completed until the weekend, but with over 60 percent tallied as of Tuesday, Pastika is assured of victory.
The win represents a second straight triumph in Bali for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose maternal grandmother was Balinese and who Herself has announced a second run for the Presidency in elections to be held next year .
Government and private offices were closed by order of Beratha, to enable people to vote, as more than 2.6 million registered voters went to polling stations across the island to cast their votes for one of three candidate teams.
Police reported no disturbances or unrest, saying the election day ran smoothly in all eight Regencies. 7.000 Some police officers were deployed at more than 5.600 polling stations around the island, Bali Police spokesman Antonious Reniban said.
Pastika, a charismatic individual and devout Hindu, was heralded for staunch cooperation with Australian Federal Police following the bombings of October 2002 that resulted in the swift arrests of dozens of suspects that were later jailed or sentenced to death, had largely run on a platform of security.
In recent interviews with Australian media, Pastika said security was still not optimal in Bali and that if he were voted Bali’s next governor, he would take Sterner measures to secure the island.
Pastika’s running mate was current Puspayoga Denpasar Mayor AA, who will be sworn in as Bali’s deputy governor.
Voting was unseasonably rainy day in many parts, with thick, gray cloud cover. That did not Deter voter turnout, however, with the Bali Election Commission reporting that participation was high at just over 77 percent.
Cok Budhi Suryawan and Nyoman Suweta of the Golkar Party and Gede Winasa and Alit Putra of a coalition of parties were also running for the island’s top job. They are predicted to come in second and third place with 25 percent and 18 percent respectively.
Pastika, who was appointed the country’s drug-busting chief after his Stint as Bali Police chief, appeared to be the most populist candidate, largely due to local and foreign media coverage of him for his work in rounding up bombing suspects. Some voters The Bali Times spoke to just before Tuesday’s vote said that despite widespread advertising of all three contenders, they were unaware of the other candidates.
“I’m voting for Pastika … because he’s the only one I know. I have not heard anything about the others, “said a waitress serving seafood to tourists at Jimbaran Bay.
Analysts said Pastika’s win augured well for Bali’s booming tourism industry, saying his international outlook, strong command of Bahasa and adherence to strict security would Bolster the vital economic sector.
Japan Gives $ 300m Indonesia ‘Climate Loan’
Toyako ~ Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced a loan to Indonesia this week of U.S. $ 300 million in the first batch of aid under Tokyo’s new initiative on fighting climate change.
Fukuda met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the northern Japanese resort of Toyako on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit.
Fukuda “highly praised” Indonesia’s leadership at a UN-led conference in Bali in December that set a deadline of the end of 2009 to reach a new climate change treaty, a Japanese foreign ministry statement said.
“The prime minister informed the president of Japan’s decision to extend a loan of $ 300 million, the first batch under the Cool Earth Partnership program,” it said.
The Japanese initiative aims to extend aid worth $ 10 billion, mostly in low-interest loans, to the developing world to help the world meet a goal of halving emissions blamed for global warming by 2050.
The G8 summit this week agreed that the world should at least halve emissions by 2050 and called for the developing world to follow suit.
Australian Tourists to Bali Rise
DENPASAR ~ Tourism statistics show that from January to May of this year, 54.76 percent more Australian tourists visited Bali than in the same period last year.
Bali Village Secretary-General Rudhy Antara said Australians’ belief in the safety of Bali seemed to be restored.
“Although the number of Australians visiting Bali began to increasing in the middle of 2007, we still promoted Bali’s hard to keep the tourists coming,” Antara said.
He said that promotion was necessary to increase tourism in Bali, and that he was cooperating with the Culture and Tourism Ministry and Indonesian General Consulate in Australia to continue to promote Bali
