A Nationwide Poll Is Held By Indonesia Despite Warnings Of Coronavirus

 

 

A nationwide regional election is held by Indonesia on Wednesday as a staggering number of voters more than 100 million are expected to cast their ballot despite warnings and threats that the poll is going to worsen the Covid-19 crisis of the nation.

The country is an archipelago of nearly 270 million people and it is the third biggest democracy in the world and regarding population, it ranks fourth among all nations in the world has originally delayed the vote that was slated for September as it was unable to contain the infection rates that were soaring and struggled to contain the entire issue.

But the polls have already been rescheduled in spite of the fact that the critics have warned about the risks amid violations of virus protocols that are widespread that include social distancing and mask-wearing.

Siti Zuhro, a prominent political analyst at the prestigious Indonesian Institute of Sciences said that he is scared that many more people are going to be affected and are going to die at the end of it all.

There are hundreds of hopeful candidates who are vying for the 270 positions that also include the regional governors, mayors, and district heads that also include the eldest son of President Joko Widodo.

The voting is expected to be wrapped up and completed around local time noon (0500 GMT).

There are more than 100 million Indonesians who are registered to vote in the elections as the poll is staffed by almost 2.7 million election workers. Out of them, some are in fact tasked with carrying the ballot boxes to those Covid patients who are hospitalized.

Out of those people, at least five of the election candidates have died reportedly so far and in excess of 1,000 election agency staff have been infected ahead of the days for voting.

It has been confirmed that in excess of 580,000 Indonesians have already contracted the dreaded illness as the death toll has risen up to a staggering 18,000.

But the right scale of the crisis has been believed widely to be much bigger as the rates for testing are relatively low.

It is expected that after the polling day is over, the infection to skyrocket to more than one million and it has been warned by the Hermawan Saputra at the coveted Indonesian Public Health Experts’ Associations.

He added that the most worrying part of the whole thing is that it is not going to be healthy and young people who are going to cast their votes but it also includes the sick people, pregnant women, and elderly who are all at high risk.

The health protocols and public service announcements are not enough. The political demands have trumped health and that is very much concerning. He further added that it is not going to worth it.

The voters had very little chance to interact with the candidates amidst the pandemic and understand their platforms.