Indonesia on September 23 kicked off campaigning for Indonesia's presidential election, scheduled for April 2019.
President Joko Widodo (second from left) (Source: AP)
Analysts forecast this will be a race between incumbent President Joko
Widodo and former military general Prabowo Subianto.
Dressed in traditional clothing, the candidates and their running mates paraded
through central Jakarta on September 23 and released doves at a ceremony after
reading out a peaceful campaign declaration. They vowed a peaceful and
transparent race.
The campaigning will focus on several burning issues such as economic affairs,
inequality and characterized politics.
Last month, President Widodo decided to choose Ma’ruf Amin, head of the Ulema
Council, as his running mate in the presidential election campaign.
Surveys show that Widodo holds many advantages compared to his rival Prabowo,
who lost to him in the 2014 presidential election.
As many as 186 million voters are expected to cast their ballots at the general
election, slated for April 17, 2019, to elect the President, members of the
Parliament and local councils.
Source: VNA
The danger from the COVID-19 pandemic is still latent, threatening people’s health and lives in the context that the immunity provided from the COVID-19 vaccine has decreased. Many other dangerous diseases are also likely to break out when the global vaccination rate slows down, due to inequality in access to health services, vaccine hesitancy, and consequences of economic recession.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is witnessing a rise in the sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, according to Maybank Investment Bank Research (Maybank IB Research).
The respect paying ceremony for Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong continued on the morning of July 26 at the National Funeral Hall in Hanoi, with high-level delegations from foreign countries and international organisations paying their last respects and expressing deep condolences.
A wave of condolences have poured in from world leaders, international organisations, rulling parties, Communist parties and partner parties following the death of Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines has expressed her deepest sympathy over the passing of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and affirmed that he is a revered leader both in Vietnam and across the world.
Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Vietnam’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), on June 5 had a meeting with UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar Julie Bishop during her working visit to New York.