Big parties would benefit from low voter turnout

Big parties would benefit from low voter turnout

JAKARTA (JP): Established parties and those with large popular
followings would be the major beneficiaries of low turnout in the
June elections, political lecturers warned on Wednesday amid
sluggish voter registration.

Political parties who fail to reach out to prospective voters
to urge them to vote risk losing out to established parties,
Cornelis Lay of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University said.

"Many who are confused about selecting one among 48 party
logos would just choose Golkar rather than ones they were
unfamiliar with," he said after addressing a media workshop on
elections in Yogyakarta.

Poll no-shows will increase "drastically" under the voluntary
registration system, he added.

However, Cornelis believed it would not significantly affect
the elections and their legitimacy.

The response remained cool on Wednesday's third day of
registration in Yogyakarta although officials said forms were
distributed across the regency.

In Ujungpandang, political professor Kausar Bailusyi said
parties with mass support and famous figures among their
leadership would gain from low voter turnout.

The Hasanuddin University lecturer told The Jakarta Post that
established parties also would benefit, but new parties
relatively unknown to the public would stand to lose.

In South Sulawesi, he said, popular parties are Golkar, the
United Development Party (PPP), the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), plus two newcomers, the National
Mandate Party (PAN) and National Awakening Party (PKB), which
have high-profile leaders.

"Leaders of new parties are not known to the public," Kausar
said.

Their party emblems also remained unfamiliar to residents both
in the capital and outside Ujungpandang.

Parties would waste their money in their election efforts, he
said. He acknowledged a factor was the lack of promotion of voter
registration.

Only about 30 people were registered in a number of
subdistricts in Ujungpandang as of Wednesday. About 300 have
registered in the Butung and Makassar subdistricts.

Unprepared officials, lack of information and apathy are
responsible for poor registration numbers, officials and
observers said.

Chairman of the South Sulawesi chapter of the Independent
Elections Monitoring Committee (KIPPDA), Nasiruddin Pasigai, said
many people wrongly assumed there would be door-to-door voter
registration.

Neutrality

Despite the adoption of voluntary registration for this year's
polls, the chairman of the General Elections Commission Rudini
said officials would help in voter registration because of the
short May 4 deadline.

In Surabaya, Antara quoted a political observer who warned the
involvement of officials could be used to benefit particular
parties.

M. Asfar of the Airlangga University, who has observed a
number of areas since registration opened on Monday, reminded the
public that the officials would be party representatives and
village or subdistrict officials.

"If party representatives are lacking in one village, village
officials will take their place."

Either way, he added, their neutrality could not be
guaranteed.

Promotion of the voluntary registration was poor, he said,
citing his two-week-long observations of the regencies of
Mojokerto, Tuban, Sampang and Bondowoso.

In Maumere in Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara, officials
complained they were waiting for registration forms on Wednesday.
One subdistrict head said he did not know that registration began
on Monday.

In Talebura district, about 35 kilometers to the east of
Maumere, a housewife said voting was pointless.

"Campaigners just flaunt empty promises and forget us once
they are in the legislature."

An 81-year-old man, Dominikus Jeng, said he wanted to vote but
no Wairotang subdistrict official was handling registration.

In the South Sulawesi regency of Jeneponto, the Independent
Election Monitoring Committee chapter reported that Golkar
distributed T-shirts and flags through district heads.

The officials instructed village heads to distribute them to
residents.

The committee (KIPPDA) said the practices were a concern
because they were a form of money politics.

In Surabaya, the chairman of the Malang chapter of the Islamic
People's Party (PUI), Aji Purnawarman, said he was informed
Golkar was providing free ID card assistance.

Aji said his party was investigating the "mild" form of money
politics.

Quoting people who claimed to have received the IDs, Aji said
Golkar covered the Rp 3,000 administrative fee.

Malang Golkar officials denied the claim and said other forms
of identification were accepted by voter registrars.

In Semarang, chairman of the Crescent Star Party Yusril Ihza
Mahendra said he feared the public would question the election's
legitimacy if voter turnout was below 50 percent.

He remained optimistic, however, that people would register if
encouraged by political parties. (30/27/har/anr/nur/44/yac)