REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called on eligible voters to come to polling booths in their respective neighborhoods to exercise their political rights on April 17, 2019. He made the call while addressing attendees of a Chinese New Year celebration here on Thursday.

"I want to urge you all to come to the polling booths on Apr 17 because we have our parliamentary and presidential elections on that date," Jokowi stated.

The eligible voters' voices will determine the nation's future. Hence, they are expected to visit polling stations while the military and police personnel were expected to secure the safety of all looking to cast their votes, he noted.

"Please, none of the voters should fail to be present at the polling stations. Do not fear to come," the incumbent president, who is seeking victory in the upcoming presidential race along with his running mate, Ma'ruf Amin, remarked.

In response to the president's calls, the event's organizing committee chairman, Sudhamek Agoeng Waspodo Soenjoto, urged all Chinese community members in Indonesia, who were eligible to vote, to come to the polling booths.

"Let us all exercise our voting rights on Apr 17," Sudhamek, widely known as the GarudaFood Group chairman, remarked.

At the event, Sudhamek told the attendees that Chinese Indonesians were inseparable from the processes of the Indonesian people's struggle for independence.

"Four of more than 60 members of Indonesia's Investigating Committee for Preparatory Works for Independence (BPUPKI) are Chinese Indonesians," he noted.

In connection with the 2019 Presidential Election, the General Election Commissions (KPU) has prepared five rounds of presidential debates for the pairs of Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno. The presidential debates, broadcast live by several television channels, are expected to help some 192 million eligible voters, who will participate in this democratic process, to become well-informed on the two pairs' capacity and capability.

Empowered with sufficient information about the candidates, they will be able to vote rationally. Whoever wins the upcoming presidential election, Indonesia will have a new pair of capable president and vice president.

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