Indonesia Highlights: Indonesians to Vote for Regional Leaders | Indonesia Praised for Disinformation Fight | Anies Baswedan Confident in Jakarta’s Covid-19 Mitigation Strategy

KOMPAS.com – Indonesians will be headed to the polls on December 9 for the 2020 Simultaneous Regional Elections despite the Covid-19 epidemic rearing its ugly head.

Indonesian Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah said workers who are non-residents of the 270 regions that will hold Simultaneous Regional Elections shall be given time off to vote.

A circular signed on December 7 determined that December 9 is a public holiday to allow workers across the archipelago to cast their vote.

The regional elections were not absent of disinformation and the spread of hoaxes, but despite these occurrences, Indonesia received international praise for mitigating the problem, according to a member of Indonesia’s General Election Supervisory Agency, Fritz Edward Siregar.

Fritz attributes the strength of civil society in driving the positive international response over Indonesia’s measures to combat disinformation during elections.

While the country's health community is concerned about tomorrow’s event and its potential to worsen existing virus transmission, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan is adamant that his government is doing its best to mitigate the virus.

Anies expressed his reassurance that Covid-19 mitigation efforts in Jakarta are adequate and working optimally despite the surging caseload in the capital city.

More details on today’s Indonesia news highlights:

1. Indonesian Workers Get Time Off to Vote on Dec. 9

Although some regions are not holding Simultaneous Regional Elections, Minister Ida said that the public holiday also applies to regions that do not hold regional elections.

“For workers or laborers whose regions hold the regional election and have to work on the voting day, employers should arrange the working hours in such a way that the workers or laborers can exercise their voting rights,” said Ida in a statement, Monday, December 7.

The letter also stated that the workers who work on the voting day are entitled to overtime pay and other labor rights according to the rules and regulations.

She called on the workers to exercise their voting rights in the regional elections and strictly follow the health protocols.

Source: http://go.kompas.com/read/2020/12/08/232613874/indonesian-workers-get-time-off-to-vote-on-dec-9-says-manpower-minister 

2. Indonesia Praised for Fighting Disinformation during Elections