June 22-25, 2009

YLDA Conducts Electoral Observation Mission

To understand the political context in which its members operate, the Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia (YLDA) visited Indonesia from 22 -25 June 2009 on an electoral observation mission. YLDA President Jan-Argy Tolentino and Program Officer Rosanna Ocampo met with representatives from its two youth groups, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Indonesian Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to observe how they organize the youth during an election period. They also visited the campaign centers of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), Megawati-Prabowo and Jusuf Kalla (JK) – Wiranto at Tangerang, Banten.

As supporters of SBY’s re-election bid, PKB invited Tolentino and Ocampo to attend one of SBY’s campaign events.

PDI-P on the other hand supports Megawati-Prabowo. YLDA met with PDI-PY youth organizer, Hanjaya Setiawan. He explained the campaign’s organizational structure, activities and issues.

In order to learn more about the third presidential contender, YLDA also visited the JK-Wiranto campaign headquarters. Binny Buchory, a member of their campaign team, discussed their platforms and communication strategies.

The YLDA electoral mission was supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty.