WHAT POTENTIAL VOTERS THINK
For now, some voters in East Java appear split on whom they would vote for.
In Tebuireng, one of its 3,500 students is Nasywa Maulida, who had just finished class when CNA met her during a visit in November.
The 17-year-old will be a first-time voter in the upcoming election.
When asked whether she knew who are running, she named the presidential candidates.
“I’ve heard there are Mr Ganjar Pranowo, Mr Prabowo and Mr Anies Baswedan. But who their running mates are, I don’t know yet,” she said.
Even though presidential candidates had visited her school, she claimed there was not enough information on the candidates available at the school.
“Because we only get information from television. And we only watch TV once a week on our day off. And even then, sometimes we don’t watch the news.
“We watch something else, so we don’t really know the latest development outside (of the boarding school),” she explained.
Twelve-grader Mohammad Hilmi, also a Tebuireng student, claims he does not know much about the elections.
“I don’t have time (to follow the news),” he said. But he claims he will cast his vote.
“Maybe I will find out their track record because they all have leadership experience like Ganjar Pranowo, who led Central Java, Anies Baswedan, who led Jakarta, and Prabowo, who was with the military,” the 18-year-old said.
Have his teachers not given him information about the election?
“No,” he told CNA. “Well, maybe just a bit. They said there will be a few pairs.”
