Indonesia postpones local elections due to pandemic

Indonesia has postponed regional elections from September to December because of the coronavirus outbreak, the cabinet secretariat said on Wednesday.

President Joko Widodo signed an emergency decree on the postponement on Monday, the secretariat said. The elections to choose nine governors, 37 mayors and 224 district chiefs had been scheduled for 23 September. They will now be held on 9 December.

Indonesia recorded its highest daily jump in confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday, 484, bringing the national tally to 12,071. The death toll was at 872.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the government had decided to ease travel restrictions starting on Thursday, allowing trains, flights and ferries to operate provided that social distancing measures are observed. The decision came after the government announced Tuesday that the economy grew at its slowest pace since 2001 in the first quarter, at 2.97 percent.[embed:render:embedded:node:40014]

Details on the transport re-opening were being discussed with the country's COVID-19 task force, Budi said. The minister said the government's ban on the annual mass homecoming for the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Fitr remained in place.

Indonesia suspended domestic air and sea travel on 24 April in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The measure had been scheduled to run until 31 May.

Travel in the greater Jakarta area, a metropolis of 30 million people, is still allowed, but is subject to social distancing measures.    (dpa)