Campaign countdown to start next March: KPU

Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) announced on Tuesday the campaign period ahead of the upcoming legislative election would take place between March 11 and April 1, 2004.

The KPU is also mandated to ensure that the election campaign runs in a peaceful, educative and well-organized manner and that clashes involving racial or religious issues are avoided.

"We will look into cooperating with the police force to provide security during the campaign," KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said here.

The KPU will announce the parties qualifying for the 2004 legislative election on Dec. 8 this year. The announcement will follow party verification by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, which the KPU says will finish on Oct. 27.

During the campaign period, all eligible parties will be allowed to hold campaign rallies. The KPU will organize the schedule for each party to campaign.

"We are also looking into cooperation with regional governments and the media to monitor campaign equipment and political advertisements in the media," he said.

The country's first-ever direct elections will begin nationwide on April 5 next year for the legislative election to be followed by a presidential election in which some 130 million voters are expected to participate.

On a separate note, KPU plans to send more voter registration forms to several regions that have complained of a shortage of forms.

"We have printed the additional registration forms to be sent to about 22 regions. We will allocate about Rp 950 million (US$106,741) from our current budget," Ramlan said, however he declined to reveal from where he would obtain the money.

The lack of registration forms is among several problems facing the voter registration process as earlier the commission's partner, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) had signaled a delay in its deadline of April 30.

Previously, the BPS revealed that unofficial field officers were conducting voter registration, creating confusion among the BPS and the public. The BPS predicted that the voter registration process would be delayed by about two weeks due to the duplicate entries by the trained and untrained officers.

The KPU is still convinced that the election will run according to plan. "Everything is subject to changes and adjustments. However, the election will proceed within its planned time frame," Ramlan said.

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KPU Timetable for the Legislative Elections, April 5, 2004 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Party verification process July 9 - Oct. 9, 2003 2. Aggregation process for

parliamentary seats July 8 - July 28, 2003 3. Announcement and draw of eligible

parties ballot numbers Dec. 8, 2003 4. Political campaign period March 11 - April 1, 2004 5. Cooling-off period April 2 - April 4, 2004 6. Legislative election day*

(8 a.m. until 2 p.m.) April 5, 2004 7. Announcement of

the election result April 21 - April 30, 2004 8. Inauguration of new members

of the House of Representatives

-Regental House members July 2004

-Provincial House members August 2004

-House of Representatives members

and Regional Representatives Council September 2004

*national holiday Source: KPU ----------------------------------------------------------------