Presiden asks people to remain united during regional head elektions

Bogor, W Java (Antaranews Babel) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has renewed his call for the Indonesian people not to be divided  despite their different choices in the upcoming simultaneous regional head elections.

"Choose the best leaders. It is okay to have different choices. But after that, they should be reconciled, related and reunited. Let us preserve our brotherhood,"  he said in his opening address to the national shalawat (salutation to Prophet Muhammad) festival for presidential cup at the Sentul International Convention Center (SICC) in Bogor, West Java, on Saturday.

On the occasion, the president asked thousands of santris  (students of Islamic boarding schools/Pesantren) to always think positively of how to pay mutual respect, have mutual appreciation, and uphold religious norms and ethics.   

"Don't have a prejudice against our brothers, don't smear our brothers and don't ridicule our brothers," he said.

A total of 17 provinces, 115 districts and 39 municipalities across Indonesian will hold simultaneous regional head elections on June 27.

The elections will be the third of its kind held in Indonesia since 2015. The second such elections was held in 2017.

According to the General Election Commission (KPU), nearly 160 million Indonesians will vote in the elections.

The KPU predicted the high number of voters may have the potential to cause large conflicts.