GOLKAR AND PKS IN RUN-OFF IN EAST KALIMANTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 001151 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS NSC FOR E. PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2018 TAGS: PGOV SOCI PINS ID SUBJECT: GOLKAR AND PKS IN RUN-OFF IN EAST KALIMANTAN GOVERNOR'S RACE REF: A. JAKARTA 1043 ¶B. JAKARTA 1020 ¶C. JAKARTA 801 Classified By: DepPol/C Stanley Harsha, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The upstart Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) pulled in the urban youth vote again to force a run-off election against the establishment Golkar Party, in the closely contested East Kalimantan gubernatorial elections. The final vote count for the May 26 elections was announced on June 10, with Golkar holding a small lead over the Islamic PKS but failing to reach the 30 percent threshold needed to win. Local political observers said no one can predict who will win the second round, scheduled for early September. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) The slow vote count in East Kalimantan's first-ever direct gubernatorial elections gave Golkar Party candidate Awang Farouk Ishak and running mate Farid Wadjidy 28.9 percent of the vote. The Patriotic Party candidate Achmad Amins and his PKS running mate Hadi Mulyadi were a close second with 26.9 percent of the vote, about 30,000 votes behind. Both contenders campaigned on bread-and-butter issues of reducing poverty, providing jobs and improving infrastructure in sparsely populated but resource rich remote Borneo province (Refs A and B). ¶3. (C) Civil society observers in East Kalimantan told DepPol/C on June 11 that the Amins/Mulyadi team benefited from PKS's ability to mobilize its base of energetic young members in the urban areas of Balikpapan and Samarinda, as well as Amins' support as the mayor of Samarinda, the provincial capital. Amins is rumored to be involved in corrupt business deals and to use thugs to get his way, while Mulyadi fits the PKS mold of a young, honest and well educated politician. ¶4. (C) Golkar's Farouk carried the vote as Regent (district chief) of the heavily populated East Kutai District, also benefiting from Golkar's ample resources. Respected as an intellectual and a competent Regent, Farouk has been campaigning hard for two years. His platform to improve the education system and to provide more services for people in the river hinterland proved popular. ¶5. (U) Farouk complained publicly following the final count that a last-minute decision by the National Elections Commission to raise the threshold from 25 percent to 30 percent of the vote to achieve a first-round victory robbed him of the victory. The Commission relied on a new elections regulation to change raise the threshold. Awang said he would dispute the threshold with the Constitutional Court. ¶6. (C) A win for the PKS coalition would provide further momentum for this Muslim party in light of two recent upset wins in West Java and North Sumatra, while Golkar is anxious to recoup after a string of losses in local elections (Ref C). HUME