Surabaya Election a Go as Risma's Sole Opponent Qualifies to Run

The Jakarta Globe, 24 Sept. 2015


Jakarta. After extending the candidate registration period for a third time, the mayoral election in Surabaya finally got the green light, as a lone contender to the popular incumbent, Mayor Tri Rismaharini, finally cleared all administrative hurdles.

Officials at the Surabaya General Elections Commission (KPU) on Thursday officially declared mayoral candidate Rasiyo and his running mate Lucy Kurniasari qualified to take part in the December election, when Indonesia will stage hundreds of regional elections simultaneously for the first time.

“We announce that the pair Rasiyo and Lucy have met all requirements to run in the Surabaya mayoral election,” Surabaya KPU chairman Robiyan Arifin said on Thursday, as quoted by Tempo.co news portal.

The Law on Regional Election bars a one-candidate election, which meant the election in the East Java capital had to be postponed until 2017 if no qualified hopefuls could be found to take on Risma.

As there were no suitable challengers, election officials had to extend the registration period three times.

Rasiyo's former running mate, Dhimam Abror Djuraid, was disqualified after registering during the second extension, for refusing to disclose his tax records.

The former city secretary then decided to switch partners, opting for former beauty queen Lucy, who recently joined the Democratic Party.

The KPU was scheduled to invite both candidates on Friday to determine the campaign schedule.

“The campaign period itself will last from Sept. 27 until Dec. 5,” the KPU's Robiyan said.



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