Dispute over registration mars Depok election

Dispute over registration mars Depok election

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Organizers are worried that the Depok mayoral election scheduled
for Sunday could be marred by a dispute over the reopening of
voter registrations among supporters of rival candidates.

"We hope all parties will work to ensure the peace is kept
during and after election day, despite the differences on (the
registrations) among the candidates," Depok Elections Commission
(KPUD Depok) chairman Zulfadli told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The voting registrations, which officially closed on June 21,
were reopened for two more days on June 22 and June 23 after
protests from students and supporters of Prosperous Justice Party
(PKS) candidate Nur Mahmudi Ismail, who said there were still
many residents that had not been registered.

Supporters of Nur Mahmudi's nearest rival, Badrul Kamal, who
was nominated by the Golkar Party and the National Justice Party
(PKB), were not happy with the decision, saying that the process
of voter registration had been carried out properly.

Polling committees at the subdistrict level, meanwhile, had
complained about the difficulties they had reopening for the two
additional days.

Currently, KPUD Depok has registered 899,419 eligible voters
on the permanent voter lists. It had not yet announced the number
of new voters registered by late Friday evening.

KPUD Depok regulations state that only those on temporary
voter lists (DPS) are allowed to register as voters. However,
Husen, the head of a neighborhood unit in Kemirimuka subdistrict,
said he registered all residents in his neighborhood that came to
him, even if their names did not appear on the DPS lists.

"If we reject the names of residents, especially those I know
who have lived here for years, I will be accused of
discrimination and I am also afraid that it would spark clashes
among the supporters of rival candidates," Husen said.

A telephone poll organized before the election campaign period
-- from June 9 to June 22 -- revealed that former forestry
minister Nur Mahmudi and Badrul Kamal, the former Depok mayor
whose term ended in May, were the most popular candidates.

But the poll also showed that 60 percent of the voter sample
of 300 were still undecided.

Badrul is partnered with running mate Syihabuddin Ahmad, while
Yuyun Wirasaputra will run as Nur Mahmudi's deputy.

The three other candidate pairs are Abdul Wahab-Ilham Wijaya
nominated by the Democratic Party, Harun Heryana-Farkhan A.R. by
the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Star Reform Party (PBR),
and the Star Crescent Party (PBB), while Yus Ruswandi-Soetadi
Dipowongso by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-
P), the United Development Party (PPP), and the Prosperous Peace
Party (PDS).

The PKS dominated the legislative election in the Depok area
in 2004, winning 24.49 percent of the total vote of 722,225,
followed by the Democratic Party with 14.23 percent, Golkar with
14.17 percent, the PDI-P with 10.06 percent, PAN with 8.85
percent, the PPP with 6.27 percent and the PDS with 3.59 percent.

Depok is a 20,000 hectare area municipality in the south of
Jakarta with a total population of around 1.3 million and a
municipal budget of Rp 488 billion this year.