VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

(LtoR) German and a Chinese flag are seen flying in the wind from the Chancellery, as the dome of the Reichstag building, which houses the German lower house of Parliament, can be seen in the background, in Berlin on June 19, 2023, during a visit of China's Premier to Germany. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

VOInews, Jakarta: China's top diplomat Wang Yi will visit Germany for the Munich Security Conference then travel to Spain and France in the coming days, Beijing's foreign ministry said Thursday.

"From February 16 to 21... Minister of Foreign Afairs Wang Yi will attend the 60th Munich Security Conference where he will deliver a speech," a spokesperson said in a statement. 

He will then visit Spain and France, where he will "hold the China-France Strategic Dialogue", they added.

The annual security gathering in Munich brings together military elite from around the world and is seen as a barometer of transatlantic relations. It starts on Friday.

Wang will use his speech there to "elaborate on China's propositions on building a community with a shared future for mankind and advocating an equal and orderly multipolar world", the foreign ministry said.

His visit to Spain will be the Chinese foreign minister's first there in six years, Beijing said.

China said the visit will "consolidate mutual trust, enhance friendship, promote cooperation and enrich the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership".

Beijing also hopes to "deepen strategic communication, consolidate political mutual trust, advance practical cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges" with France, it said.

Source: AFP

International observers monitoring the election conduct at a polling station in Jimbaran, Badung District, Bali, Wednesday (February 14, 2024). ANTARA/Ni Putu Putri Muliantari/nbl.

VOInews, Jakarta: International observers monitored the election conduct at Polling Station No. 13, operated by an all-woman team, in Jimbaran Village, Badung District, Bali, under the General Elections Commission's (KPU's) Election Visit Programme.

Zahir Hassan, a Malaysian Parliament member who participated in the monitoring group, commended the election conduct observed in Bali. He also highlighted the high participation of women at the polling station.

“I am also convinced that the election conduct proceeded well, smoothly, and transparently because of the presence of the candidates' representatives (as witnesses),” Hassan stated here on Wednesday.

He also admitted to being amazed that Indonesian voters received five different ballot papers to vote for the president-vice president pair and members of the House of Representatives (DPR), Regional Representative Council (DPD), and regional legislatures at the province and city and district levels.

“In comparison, Malaysian voters will receive at most two ballot papers at one election. I think it is huge, and it will be a huge success if (the election is) organized properly,” the observer from Malaysia stated.

House of Representatives (DPR) Secretariat General’s deputy for parliamentary proceedings, Suprihatini, remarked that the observer group comprising 11 representatives from international organizations visited Polling Station No. 13 in Badung.

Meanwhile, the other group of observers in Bali monitored the election conduct at Polling Station No. 29 in Ungasan Village, also in Badung District, and at Polling Station No. 9 in Penglipuran Village, Bangli District.

“In total, 33 observers from 17 countries and international parliamentary organizations (observed the election in Bali),” Suprihatini revealed.

Moreover, Jimbaran village-level election organizing chief I Wayan Muliwan spoken of sensing pride that foreign observers monitored the election conduct in the village.

“The monitoring (allows) them to understand our election system, especially at the polling station operated by an all-women team that emphasized gender equality where men and women are not discriminated by their capability,” Muliwan stated.

Apart from the election conduct, the official also expressed hope that international observers would also spotlight Bali’s natural beauty when they return to their home country.

Source: ANTARA

A man stands in the ruins of a building that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 14, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)

VOInews, Jakarta: The leaders of Australia, Canada and New Zealand on Thursday warned Israel against a potentially "catastrophic" ground ofensive in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, amplifying a growing chorus of international concern.

Urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "not to go down this path", the trio of Commonwealth nations issued a rare joint statement expressing deep and growing worry about Israel's prosecution of the months-long war.

"About 1.5 million Palestinians are taking refuge in the area, including many of our citizens and their families," the group of US allies said. 

"An expanded military operation would be devastating. We urge the Israeli government not to go down this path. There is simply nowhere else for civilians to go."

In the face of mounting international pressure and a death toll that Gaza authorities say has now topped 28,000, Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead.

He has promised Israeli forces will soon conduct a "powerful" operation in Rafah -- a city filled with countless Gazans displaced by fighting elsewhere in the territory.

Israel believes that Hamas operatives responsible for the October 7 attacks that killed around 1,160 people in Israel are holed up in the area, along with some of an estimated 130 hostages seized by the Palestinian Islamist group.

Source : AFP

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesians began voting for a new president on Wednesday, with three candidates battling to lead Southeast Asia's biggest economy and the third-largest democracy in the world. The relocation of the archipelago's capital from Jakarta to Nusantara on the island of Borneo and the fight against corruption are two key issues in the election that will determine who succeeds President Joko Widodo afer a decade in power.

Here are the candidates:

- Prabowo Subianto

Prabowo Subianto, 72, of the Advanced Indonesia Coalition is the frontrunner in the contest, with polls projecting he will win a majority. He currently serves as defence minister afer losing to Widodo in the 2014 and 2019 elections.

Schooled internationally, the defence chief is a retired military general who was fired in 1998 for allegedly ordering the kidnapping of tens of pro-democracy activists in unrest following the fall of Suharto.

Together with President Widodo's 36-year-old son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his vice presidential candidate, Subianto has been outspoken about carrying on the incumbent leader's policies. Subianto has pledged to eradicate childhood stunting due to malnutrition by ofering free lunch to students, one of his most popular campaign programmes. While the prevalence of stunting has been falling, it remained at 21.6 percent in 2022.

The defence chief has also committed to maintaining a nickel ore export ban imposed by Widodo to increase national income from the mining sector and turn Indonesia into a developed nation.

"In less than two years, our income has increased 10 times to $33.3 billion because of this," Subianto said at a campaign event.

He has also changed his public persona to woo voters, using a slick social media strategy that has seen videos of him dancing go viral. It has transformed his image from a figure of strength to what some users have called a "cute grandpa".

- Anies Baswedan

Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan has portrayed himself as the anti-establishment candidate in Indonesia's presidential campaign, climbing to second place in polls on the back of a message that includes opposing a costly relocation of the capital to Borneo. That line of attack has seen his stock rise, and he is now polling in second as the main challenger to Subianto.

Anies Baswedan, 54, is nominated by a coalition in which his National Democratic Party is supported by two Islamic parties. He is popular with conservative Muslims and Islamists in the Muslim-majority country. Baswedan has repeatedly claimed democracy has sufered under Widodo's rule. The former minister of education also opposes the idea of moving the capital to Borneo. 

Baswedan has promoted pouring money into more than a dozen existing cities to boost economic equality instead of developing a new capital from scratch. However, Baswedan previously courted controversy in Jakarta's 2017 governor election when he faced Christian candidate Basuki Tjahaja Purnama and was accused of stoking religious divides.

- Ganjar Pranowo

Ganjar Pranowo pushed his humble background to emerge as a leading Indonesian presential candidate, but his campaign has flared out in the lead-up to the election.

The former governor of Central Java for two terms, Pranowo was seen as Subianto's main opponent afer being nominated as the candidate for a coalition led by Widodo's ruling Indonesia Democracy of Struggle Party (PDI-P). Baswedan has since overtaken him in the polls, however.

The 55-year-old silver-haired politician is focusing on bread-and-butter issues, prioritising access to healthcare, housing and food. He has picked current chief security minister Mahfud MD as his running mate and put corruption eradication high on his campaign agenda.

Like Subianto, he is promising to carry on Widodo's policies, including moving the capital. Pranowo and Mahfud are the only candidates who have experience in three areas of power: legislative, executive and judicial. Initially viewed as the presidential frontrunner, he lost support over his opposition to Israel's participation in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup last year, which Indonesia was set to host but lost the rights over the issue.

Sumber : AFP