Australia gives A$10m aid to RI for poll<\/p>\n
By Riyadi<\/p>\n
NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): Australian Foreign Minister Alexander
\nDowner announced here on Wednesday that his government would
\nprovide an initial sum of A$10 million to help Indonesia prepare
\nfor and conduct the general election.<\/p>\n
Downer told journalists on the sidelines of the meeting of the
\nAustralia Indonesia Ministerial Forum that Australia was prepared
\nto increase the assistance to A$15 million, if it was needed, to
\nensure a free and fair election.<\/p>\n
\"The Australian government regards the election in June in
\nIndonesia as a watershed not only in Indonesia's political
\ndevelopment, which it clearly is, but for the Indonesian economy
\nas well.<\/p>\n
\"It is very important for the international community to make
\na major effort to provide assistance to Indonesians so that this
\nelection could be as free and fair as possible,\" Downer said.<\/p>\n
For its part, Australia could only benefit from the emergence
\nof a stable and democratic Indonesia, he added.<\/p>\n
Downer said that Australia had already provided technical
\nassistance to Indonesia through the Australia Electoral
\nCommission.<\/p>\n
This assistance included advice in the selection of sites for
\nvoter registration and polling, the layout and configuration of
\npolling stations, the designing and distribution of ballots, and
\nthe vote-counting process. Australia also worked to strengthen
\nthe Indonesian electoral committee and to develop a common
\nmonitoring methodology among non-governmental election monitoring
\ngroups.<\/p>\n
Downer noted that Australia, in extending this assistance, was
\nworking together with the United Nations Development Program
\n(UNDP), the agency responsible for coordinating international
\ndonor support for Indonesia's elections.<\/p>\n
The UNDP has developed a program of election support
\nactivities for donor consideration. The activities include the
\nproduction and distribution of voter education material and
\nindependent election monitoring.<\/p>\n
Downer, who led the Australian delegation at the bilateral
\nministerial meeting, said: \"If the elections succeed, I think we
\ncan expect a fairly rapid return of business confidence in the
\nIndonesian economy. And also, if successful, Indonesia will be
\ntransformed into the world's third largest democracy.\"<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry
\nGinandjar Kartasasmita said the government was committed to
\nconducting the general election as freely and as fairly as
\npossible because there were too many things at stake.<\/p>\n
Political stability and the recovery of Indonesia's economy
\nhinged on the success of the general election.<\/p>\n
\"So, we are banking so much on the process and the results of
\nthe election,\" he said.<\/p>\n
If the election proceeds peacefully and fairly, and its
\nresults are accepted by the majority of the people, Indonesia's
\neconomy is expected to recover and foreign investment to return.<\/p>\n
Ginandjar predicted that the country would book positive
\ngrowth in the second half of this year after seeing negative
\ngrowth in the first semester.<\/p>\n
\"Thus, our target of zero growth for this year would become
\nreality.\"<\/p>\n
He noted that if the election put credible people in the House
\nof Representatives, and the elected president could form a
\ncredible government, Indonesia would return to the positive
\ngrowth path by 2002.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australia-gives-a10m-aid-to-ri-for-poll-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}