City KPU to get new facilities

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration announced on Friday that it had allocated Rp 125 billion in the 2003 budget proposal to develop facilities for the 2004 general election, including a new building.

The secretary of the city chapter of the General Elections Commission (KPU), Ismeth S. Hasan, said that the building would be the new home of the KPU city chapter office.

"The office will be equipped with modern facilities, such as a data center, Internet and a meeting hall for poll contestants," Ismeth said at City Hall after a meeting with Governor Sutiyoso.

Ismeth said that with the modern facilities, votes could be counted and reported to the KPU within eight hours, instead of eight days as was the case in the last general election.

He said that counting could be made quicker since the district offices here would be connected to an intranet system, which would be expanded to include subdistrict offices.

"If the funds' allocation is approved by the council, we could count the votes quickly," he said.

The meeting at City Hall was also attended by KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti, and KPU members Valina Singka, Imam B. Prasodjo and Anas Urbaningrum.

Ramlan said he hoped that the administration could help the commission finance the KPU's city chapter office with modern facilities, including a representative KPU office, for the next general election.

"Jakarta is the capital of the country, and could become a model for other cities. The office would also be seen by the world," Ramlan said.

He said the KPU office would be used not only for the next general election, but also for the gubernatorial election.

At least 400 political parties have registered at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, but not all the parties will be able to join the election due to a new law stipulating that they need to fill certain requirements.