Candidates ready 2 million monitors

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja/Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Candidates contending the upcoming election are moving to minimize vote-rigging by fielding around two million monitors for the Sept. 20 runoff.

Incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri and running mate Hasyim Muzadi will face Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and partner Jusuf Kalla in the direct presidential election.

Megawati's campaign team member Heri Akhmadi said on Friday that his camp would field two monitors at each poll station, most of whom would come from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party.

There will be around 581,393 polling stations set up across the country for the election.

"We have decided to deploy two monitors at each poll station who will come from two coalition members that won in the area," Heri said.

PDI-P has signed an agreement with Golkar, Islam-based United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) to support Megawati in the Sept. 20 election.

Aside from the coalition members, the Megawati-Hasyim pair is also supported by the Reform Star Party (PBR) and the Marhaenisme Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI Marhaenisme).

Under existing regulations, monitors sent by campaign teams are given copies of the manual vote-count from the polling stations.

The monitors are also allowed to observe data entry at the district level. They could raise objections on how the manual vote counting has proceeded. Poll workers must immediately make corrections if errors are found.

In the absence of a monitor, voters could raise any objections with the head of the polling station organizers (KPPS).

Heri said that the coalition would pay for any costs incurred by the monitors. He did not say how much his coalition had put aside.

He also said that the Megawati camp would also maintain its own tabulation at the headquarters of both PDI-P and Golkar.

"Data from both offices will complement each other, making it easier to detect any irregularities in the counting," Heri said.

The Susilo camp also held a preparatory meeting on Friday to ensure that all team members were ready to monitor the election to avoid possible vote manipulation.

Speaking after the closed-door meeting, Kalla said that the meeting wanted to ensure that all one-million monitors already assigned by their campaign teams could carry out their tasks well.

Also present in the meeting were Hatta Rajasa of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Alwi Shihab of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Hidayat Nur Wahid and Anis Matta of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Eddy Sudrajat of the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), Jusril Ihza Mahendra and M.S. Ka'ban of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and former attorney general Marsillam Simanjuntak.

"We have to ensure that the political machinery is working well ahead of the election day on Sept. 20," Kalla told the press after the meeting.

"We discussed administrative matters, including permits for the monitors," Kalla said, adding that they had also set up a team of lawyers to monitor the ballot counting from the first day of vote counting to prevent possible manipulation.