Indonesia Roundup: Death cases due to cancer, Prabowo dominates, re-election

Death cases due to cancer

The Indonesian Oncology Association said that 242,988 deaths in Indonesia were attributed to cancer, largely due to delays in treatment and early detection. This information was shared during a discussion forum held to commemorate World Cancer Day titled "Close the Care Gap: Bring Attention to a Higher Level." Cosphiadi Irawan, the General Chair of the Indonesian Oncology Association, highlighted data from the Global Burden Cancer (Globocan) report of 2022, which estimated 19.9 million new cancer cases worldwide with a death toll of 9.7 million, local media Berita Satu reported.

Prices of commodities surge after elections

After the 2024 election, prices of various essential community needs in several traditional markets in Kebumen, Central Java, surged. Necessities experienced price hikes of up to 100 percent. At Tumenggungan Market on February 18, notable increases were observed in curly chillies and red cayenne peppers, reports local media Kompas. Wijiati, a trader at the market, attributed the spike to a possible shortage in the supply of goods due to farmers' participation in the general election, leading to heightened demand and scarcity.

Re-election

Four polling stations in the northern Prohibition area, TPS 01, 02, 05, and 06, conducted re-voting for the 2024 election due to flooding on the day of simultaneous voting, February 14, reports local media Republika. The Indonesian Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) said that 2,413 polling stations were eligible for re-voting due to various issues such as natural disasters, floods, the presence of unregistered voters, incorrect distribution of ballot papers, and the detection of violations.

Prabowo dominates official vote count

In Indonesia's 2024 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto, alongside running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, maintained a commanding lead in the official vote count by the General Election Commission (KPU). With over 65 percent of the votes tallied from more than 820,000 polling stations as of Saturday at 02:00 PM WIB, Prabowo holds approximately 57.52 percent of the votes, positioning him for a potential single-round victory, reports local media Jakarta Globe. His closest competitors, Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar secured 24.6 percent of the votes, while Ganjar Pranowo and Mohammad Mahfud MD attained 17.89 percent.

Election officials dead

As of February 17, 2024, 57 election officials from various groups, including the Voting Organizing Group (KPPS), community protection, and the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), have passed away. Data from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) showed that the deaths comprised 29 KPPS members, 10 members of Community Protection (Linmas), nine witnesses, six officers, two voting committee members, and one member of Bawaslu. The officers' ages varied, with the primary causes of death being heart disease, accidents, acute respiratory disorders (ARDS), and hypertension, local media Republika reported.