Habibie greets EU election monitors<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie thanked the European
\nUnion (EU) on Tuesday for dispatching a 135-member team to
\nobserve the June 7 general election, saying their presence would
\ncontribute significantly to Indonesia's campaign to hold free and
\nfair elections.<\/p>\n
"I hope that during your stay in our country, you will learn
\nhow the real conditions are," he told the EU team, led by John
\nGwyn Morgan, at Merdeka Palace.<\/p>\n
The President assured the European observers the upcoming
\nelections would be fair and internationally acceptable.<\/p>\n
"I'm committed to the 1945 Constitution," the President said.<\/p>\n
Habibie renewed his commitment to a direct presidential
\nelection by 2004, saying it is unfair to give responsibility for
\nthe fate of the country to 700 members of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR).<\/p>\n
Almost all of the registered 528 foreign observers have
\narrived and are ready to monitor Monday's general election, said
\nan official at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
\nElection Facilitation Center on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Susan Archibald, a UNDP poll technical adviser, said the
\nforeign observers would be grouped under 14 international
\ninstitutions, among them the EU, the American Chamber of
\nCommerce, the Asian Network for Free Elections (Anfrel) and the
\nAustralian government.<\/p>\n
Other delegations include the International Republican
\nInstitute, the Japanese government, the National Citizen Movement
\nfor Free Elections (Namfrel), the National Democratic Institute-
\nCarter Center (NDI-Carter Center) and the New Zealand Embassy.<\/p>\n
An NDI-Carter Center press statement said on Tuesday it would
\ndeploy a team of about 100 observers to monitor the elections.
\nThe team, whose duties are to observe the voting, ballot-
\ncounting and the transmission of the election results to the
\nelection data updating center, will be led by former U.S.
\npresident Jimmy Carter.<\/p>\n
The statement said that most of the delegation members will
\narrive on Thursday. Meanwhile, a source at the Center told The
\nJakarta Post that Carter would arrive on Saturday and observe the
\nelections in the greater Jakarta are.<\/p>\n
Delegation members, who will be divided into 45 groups, will
\nattend a two-day joint briefing by the General Elections
\nCommittee and party representatives in 26 provinces, excluding
\nEast Timor, before leaving for their designated deployment sites.<\/p>\n
Delegation members include former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia
\nPaul Wolfowitz, Asia Foundation president William Fuller, Carter
\nCenter expert on Indonesia Dwight King, NDI president for
\nInternational Affairs Kenneth Wollack, former South African
\nleader Tokyo Sexwale, South Korean parliament members Keun Tae
\nKim and Sang Woo Kim, Mexican Congress member Santiago Creel and
\nsecretary-general of Singapore's Democratic Party Chee Soon Juan.<\/p>\n
Most Anfrel observers also have arrived here. Anfrel local
\nstaff member Mega Christina said they would leave on Tuesday for
\ntheir deployment at sites in 18 provinces, including Aceh, West
\nKalimantan and Maluku provinces, where hundreds have been killed
\nin violence in recent months.<\/p>\n
"However, no specific areas in Aceh have been mentioned as
\nthey (observers) are still working out their security
\narrangements," said Mega, an activist of the Asian Network for
\nDemocracy in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Anfrel will be the only foreign observer group to monitor the
\nelections in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Imelda Hutapea of Namfrel said the Philippine-based
\norganization would not send its observers to Aceh, but she did
\nnot disclose the reason.<\/p>\n
Japan announced on Tuesday it would send 20 observers to
\nmonitor the elections and also provide US$10 million financial
\nassistance for the autonomy ballot in East Timor scheduled in
\nAugust.<\/p>\n
"The government of Japan decided to dispatch 20 election
\nobservers, headed by ambassador Sumio Edamura, former ambassador
\nto Indonesia," said a foreign ministry statement.<\/p>\n
The observers will arrive on Thursday for about one week.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, two EU observers have been touring Lampung and its
\nsurrounding regions since last week to monitor preparations for
\nMonday's general election.<\/p>\n
They met with local activists of the Independent Election
\nMonitoring Body (KIPP), the Rectors Forum and the University
\nNetwork for Free and Fair Elections (Unfrel).<\/p>\n
Extra lines<\/p>\n
In a bid to ensure the smooth and instantaneous transmission
\nof election results, the International Foundation for Election
\nSystem (IFES) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
\nhave requested 150 telephone and 50 facsimile lines from state-
\nowned telecommunication company PT Telkom.<\/p>\n
PT Telkom's vice president Dodi Amarudien was quoted as saying
\nby Antara in Bandung on Tuesday that lines would be installed at
\nAryaduta Hotel in Jakarta, where all international monitoring
\ninstitutions are pooled for updated reports of election results
\nnationwide.<\/p>\n
Dodi said PT Telkom also provides similar services for the
\npublic through the toll-free telephone number 08001666666 and
\nfacsimile number 08001444444. (prb\/anr\/byg\/imn)<\/p>",
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