Public unaware of election preparations<\/p>\n
Arya Abhiseka
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Winarto, a public minivan driver plying the Kebayoran Lama-Tanah
\nAbang route, was obviously baffled when asked if he was ready to
\nregister for the 2004 general elections.<\/p>\n
\"Elections? This Tuesday? No, I didn't know that registration
\nwas so soon,\" Winarto, 32, told The Jakarta Post early this week.<\/p>\n
Udin, 22, a janitor at a film company in Central Jakarta, said
\nthat he had no idea yet of the time line or the mechanism of next
\nyear's general election.<\/p>\n
\"I am not familiar with the entire process of the next year's
\ngeneral election,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The National Elections Commission (KPU) had decided to start
\nvoter registration for next year's elections on April 1, 2003.
\nThe commission said earlier that there were around 130 million
\neligible voters around the country.<\/p>\n
Sadly, however, not too many people are aware of the time line
\nset by KPU, and according to Hadar Gumay from the Center for
\nElectoral Reform (CETRO), members of the House of Representatives
\n(DPR) are to blame for that.<\/p>\n
\"I do not blame it entirely on KPU as the whole process has
\nsome flaws. The House was very slow in deliberating the election
\nbill,\" Hadar told the Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The House endorsed the election bill only at the end of
\nFebruary, far behind the original schedule of November 2002. The
\ndelay had prevented the commission from making early election
\npreparations.<\/p>\n
According to KPU member Imam B. Prasodjo, the delay had made
\nit impossible for the commission to set an election date and
\nprepare the public service announcement to raise people's
\nawareness of the upcoming general elections.<\/p>\n
\"We could not decide on the public service announcement as the
\ngeneral elections law was endorsed late,\" Imam said.<\/p>\n
KPU has set April 5, 2004 as the date for the legislative
\nelection, with the presidential elections scheduled to take place
\nbetween June and August.<\/p>\n
During a seminar on Local Radio Network for Democracy,
\norganized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
\nCultural Organization (UNESCO) here on Tuesday, experts warned
\nKPU that it had done a poor job in communicating the mechanism
\nfor the general election.<\/p>\n
\"Local radios must be more proactive in taking charge in
\nproviding information on the general election to the public. We
\ncannot rely on KPU alone,\" said media expert Riza Primadi.<\/p>\n
Hadar warned that poor preparations might steer people away
\nfrom participating in the elections as the public had become more
\ncritical and aware of the country's political condition.<\/p>\n
\"Politicians and political parties have proven that they have
\nnot responded to people's aspirations, making the people more
\nskeptical and indifferent toward the general election,\" he said.<\/p>\n
CETRO, according to Hadar, had predicted that election
\nabstentionism would account for between 18 percent and 19 percent
\nof the total 130 million voters in the next elections, a sharp
\nincrease from 1999's elections of 9.5 percent.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, President Megawati Soekarnoputri urged KPU on
\nFriday to stand firm by its decisions, saying that the success of
\nelections depended on KPU's resoluteness.<\/p>\n
\"KPU should be firm and consistent about whatever decisions it
\nhas taken,\" KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti quoted Megawati
\nas saying during their meeting on Friday.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/public-unaware-of-election-preparations-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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