International observers dispatched for election<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter announced the dispatching of
\nthe Carter Center election team here Saturday, one of several
\nforeign agencies officially registered to observe the country's
\nfirst direct presidential election on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"Last night and this morning, the representatives from the
\nCarter Center were dispatched ... and they will be making a very
\nclose observation (of the voting) and submitting their
\nreports..,\" Carter, the official head of the mission, said after
\na meeting with General Elections Commission (KPU) members.<\/p>\n
The observers would cooperate closely with other local and
\nforeign monitors and would work according to KPU rules, he said.<\/p>\n
Carter was last here during the April legislative election and
\nonce before in the 1999 general election.<\/p>\n
For the latest poll, the center brought in 50 additional
\nshort-term observers to join an earlier batch of observers who
\nhave been in the country since April.<\/p>\n
After observing two previous elections here, Carter said: \"The
\nrapid movement of Indonesia to democracy as demonstrated in the
\npeaceful acceptance of an accurate election result is very
\nimpressive.\"<\/p>\n
Based on that experience, he believed the poll would be a
\nsuccess. \"We also expect that the run-off in September will be
\ndone properly as well.\"<\/p>\n
Carter's wife, Rosalynn, and former prime minister of Thailand
\nChuan Leekpai also head the mission.<\/p>\n
On election day, the Carter Center observers will witness poll
\nopenings, voting, tallying at polling stations, and the
\ntransportation of the ballot boxes to the poll committees. They
\nwill be deployed to 20 of the country's 32 provinces in Sumatra,
\nSulawesi, Java, Bali and Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The center was founded in 1982 by Carter and Rosalynn in
\npartnership with Emory University to advance the causes of peace
\nand public health worldwide.<\/p>\n
The center will offer a preliminary assessment of the election
\nprocess in the wake of the poll.<\/p>\n
Another foreign monitoring team, the European Union Election
\nObservation Mission, said it would deploy 230 observers to all
\nprovinces, making it the largest foreign monitoring team in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
The group includes 132 observers that arrived in the country
\nrecently. The short-term observers, 128 from EU member states and
\nfour from Switzerland, will join the mission established in
\nMarch, which consists of 12 election experts, 68 long-term
\nobservers and 17 locally recruited observers.<\/p>\n
The International Observer Resource Center said over 50 of its
\nobservers would be ready at polling stations countrywide
\nfollowing an invitation from the KPU.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/international-observers-dispatched-for-election-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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