"Amid the successful convening of our general elections, and it is one of the biggest elections in our history, we are saddened by the deaths of nine policemen who were on duty," he said in a press statement made available to ANTARA in Jakarta on Friday.
Their services to the state, nation, and society were so remarkable, he said, adding that the dead policemen comprised M. Saepudin, M.Supri, Suratno, Prima Leion Nurman Sasono, Ichwanul Muslimin, Stef Pekualu, Arif Mustaqim, Slamet Dardiri, and Jonter Siringoringo.
M.Saepudin, a policeman of Cileunyi police precinct in West Java, died of exhaustion after securing ballot boxes, while M.Supri who belongs to the Sidoarjo city police in East Java died while securing polling station number 21 in Bareng Krajan Village.
On Thursday, President Joko Widodo told journalists that leaders from 13 friendly countries had congratulated him for Indonesia's success in peacefully convening its parliamentary and presidential elections on Wednesday.
Among the leaders who expressed their congratulatory messages were Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he said.
The incumbent president who is challenged by his tough contender Prabowo Subianto said Indonesia's general elections were one of the world's biggest democratic events because they were held simultaneously across the archipelago.
With more than 800 thousand polling stations set up in around 17 thousand islands, Indonesia's parliamentary and presidential elections could be referred to as a huge fiesta of democracy, he said.
Jokowo also predicted that the participation rate might have reached almost 81 percent of around 192 million eligible voters.
The Jokowi and Prabowo Subianto camps are now awaiting the vote-counting process before the General Elections Commission officially announces the vote recapitulation in May.
EDITED BY INE
