Jokowi Still Focused as Governor, Says Ahok

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has shrugged off claims that Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had been unfocused in executing his duties as the capital’s helmsman since his nomination as a presidential contender on the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)’s ticket.

“Who says he has been unfocused? He just briefed me this morning to make sure on the one-roof service system and other programs,” Ahok said at the City Hall on Monday, April 21, 2014.

Ahok also said the governor did not mention anything on the possibility of his becoming Jokowi’s running mate as a vice presidential candidate. “So we are still focused. We did not talk about vice presidential issues or anything [related to the it],” he said.

He added the communication between him and the governor had been well-preserved, including when Ahok was ill recently. “Nothing was missed so far,” he said.

Ahok said he had also advised his boss not to resign from his post as a governor during the presidential campaign period and took a leave instead. 

ERWAN HERMAWAN

KPU Work with IT Team to Improve Security

 

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Election Commission (KPU) has made some changes in order to protect its system from virtual attack like the ones in 2004 and 2009, particularly by embracing internet security institutions. "This year's information system is more secure," said Partono Samino, an expert in KPU's IT Technical Team.
KPU has worked with the Indonesia Security Incident Response Team on Internet Infrastructure (ID-SIRTI), a team formed by the Ministry of Telecommunication an Informatics, Cellular Operator, Network Provider, and the police. In addition, KPU has applied manual recapitulation system. Instead of counting the vote using a tabulation application.
Back in 2004, KPU's official website was hacked by Dani Firmansyah, who claimed that he hacked the site just to find out how secure KPU's system is. Again, in 2009, KPU's website was hacked and cannot be accessed.
SATWIKA MOVEMENTI

Floods Hit Kampung Pulo Again

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Heavy rain that hit Jakarta and the neighboring areas last night has caused floods in areas around Ciliwung River.

This morning, Kampung Pulo and Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta were inundated with floodwaters of up to 150 centimeter.

Chief of RT (neighborhood unit) 04, RW (community unit) 03 in Kampung Pulo, Usep Tahrudin said floodwaters began to enter the residents' houses early in the morning, not long after the floods since the heavy rain on Friday just receded.

"The water rose to 1.5 meter last night," Usep told Tempo. It has gradually receded because water level in Katulampa Reservoir did not increase. "We hope that floodwaters will be below one meter by midday," he said.

In the meantime, Kampung Melayu sub-district head Bambang Pangestu said that 36 RTs in seven RWs in the sub-district were flooded.

Floodwaters of up to 30-100 centimeter inundated houses and affected 2,620 people, according to Usep. Areas affected by the floods were just 10 meters away from Ciliwung River. "No residents have been evacuated so far," he said.

AFRILIA SURYANIS

East Java Police to Watch Watersheds for Securing 2014 Election

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The East Java police is spending a special attention to the Bengawan Solo and Madura watersheds in preparation for 2014 legislative election. The Bengawan Solo watershed is likely to get flooded on rainy weather that could be a problem in distributing logistics for the election.

The Insp. Gen. Unggung Cahyono said on Friday, that the police is going on a patrol everyday at 19:00 local time to analyze and evaluate the watershed conditions and preparing for actions for the next day. Unggung also said that based on the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) information, the rain fall is predicted to increase from late March until mid of April.

The East Java Police has deployed 27,257 personnel to secure the 2014 general election together with 8,100 personnel of Indonesian National Army (TNI) and 152,113 personnel of the community protection force (Linmas).

AGITA SUKMA LISTYANTI

Fifteen Candidates Listed as Jokowi's Vice President

 

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo a.k.a. Jokowi (Middle, white shirt) when campaigning for his presidential bid in Lampung (22/3). TEMPO/Nanda Tere

 

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) election team (Bapilu) revealed that the party has chosen 15 candidates of vice presidents for Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) presidential run. Among the 15 candidates are two currently-active ministers.
"We will announce the names later," said the Secretary of PDI-P Bapilu, Arif Wibowo in Jember yesterday. "There are two active ministers included as candidates."
According to Arif, the vice president candidates for Jokowi should be accountable as well as having the high integrity and dedication to struggle for the people. Arif also said that discussion regarding Jokowi's vice president is expected to finish soon, or after the legislative election.
On Tuesday, Jokowi stated that his sidekick does not have to be skilled in certain field, such as economy and politic, but rather skilled in handling the problems in the macro level regardless to both gender and age. Meanwhile, PDI-P's senior politician Sabam Sirait shared Jokowi's view that the candidate does not have to be an economy expert, but he suggested Jokowi to choose a candidate that is not older than him and should be from outside the PDI-P.

MAHBUB DJUNAIDY | WAYAN AGUS PURNOMO | ANANDA TERESIA