Prabowo-Hatta Duo Register as Presidential, VP Candidates

Jakarta (Antara) - Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa registered themselves as the presidential and vice presidential candidates at the General Election Commission (KPU) here on Tuesday. Six political parties lending their support to Prabowo and Hatta are the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Golkar Party, and the Crescent and Star Party (PBB). The two arrived at the KPU at 2 p.m. wearing a white uniform and black cap and were accompanied by PAN founder Amien Rais, Golkar Chairman Aburizal Bakrie, PPP Chief Suryadharma Alie, Gerindra Secretary General Ahmad Muzani, and PKS President Anis Matta. Prabowo Subianto, the former army's special forces commander, is the chief patron of Gerindra, while Hatta Rajasa is the general chairman of PAN and also the former chief economic minister. Commotion arose as hundreds of supporters of the pair jostled to gain entry into the KPU building where the two were scheduled to formally register themselves to contest in the presidential election on July 9. The situation was different the day before, when rival candidates Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla came to register themselves with the KPU and the street in front of the KPU building was closed in connection with the event on Tuesday. Chief of the traffic police unit of Menteng Police Sector Commissioner Billy l. Olle admitted that security had been beefed up because of the large number of Prabowo supporters who came to the event. "This action was not taken on the request of Prabowo," Billy claimed. (*) Reporting by Fransiska Ninditya