Central govt stays clear of local elections

Central govt stays clear of local elections

Direct regional elections, the first in the nation's history,
will be held in 226 regional administrations nationwide this
year, with the first scheduled for June 1 in Kutai Kartanegara,
East Kalimantan. As the election draws near, The Jakarta Post's
Tiarma Siboro spoke with Progo Nurdjaman, the secretary to the
Minister of Home Affairs about the elections. Here are the
excerpts:

What kind of problems do you foresee arising during the direct
regional elections?

It has been mandated by Law No. 32/2004 on regional
administration that the direct regional elections must be held to
elect local government heads whose term of service will end this
year. The role of the central government here is to help
facilitate the elections.

For the year of 2005, we have proposed that lawmakers endorse
our proposal that the central government disburse Rp 700 billion
(US$74.5 million) to the regional General Election Commissions
(KPUDs) and local administrations to hold the elections, but the
legislators have only approved around Rp 400 billion. So to make
up for the budget shortfall, we've already asked the Ministry of
Finance to disburse some 46 percent, or about Rp 350 billion, of
our initial Rp 700 billion proposal to support regions, which
will hold the elections in June.

The amount of supporting funds will depend on the financial
condition of each region. For those whose regional revenues are
lower than others, we may allocate around 90 percent of their
total election spending, while some other regions may receive
only 60 percent.

The central government has also issued government regulation
No. 3/2005 in lieu of Law No. 32/2004 in case that some regions
fail to stick to their schedules set for the elections.

The regulation rules that an election can be delayed if, for
instance, a natural disaster occurs or the regional commissions
lack the necessary funds.

Based on the regulation, the delay of the gubernatorial
elections must be approved by the president, while the delay of
municipal/regental elections must be approved by the home
minister. However, any delay must first be approved by the local
KPUD and local councillors.

How about any legal problems?

If legal problems persist during the election, for example,
one candidate, or his/her support party, violates the election
law, it will be the task of the regional KPU to solve it. The
central government will not intervene.

What will the regional KPU's have to deal with?

The regional KPU may face the problem in determining whether
certain candidates are qualified to enter the election race. The
regional KPU is facing a daunting task, as currently many
political parties are plagued with internal disputes that will
affect several candidates.

For example, several persons claim that they are really
executives of a certain political party's chapter or branch while
other persons claim the same thing. It will lead to confusion as
to which persons are really branch or chapter executives. It will
be difficult for the regional KPU to determine which group of
party executives is actually eligible to nominate candidates.

Regional KPUs have to be aware of this.

Has the government done anything to avert security
disturbances that may occur in conflict-prone regions?

God willing, security disturbances will not happen during any
of the elections. Security is the police's domain, and the
Indonesian Military (TNI) will only provide assistance if the
police fail to ensure security.

In the case of Papua province, many have asked whether the
province can proceed with the elections because the establishment
of Papuan People's Council (MRP) as mandated by the Autonomy Law
for Papua is yet to be implemented. But we actually have agreed
to give the local councils the authority to select the candidates
in a bid to avoid delays. The agreement is stipulated by
government regulation No. 6/2005.