Election day fell on good day in Bali

Election day fell on good day in Bali

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post/Denpasar

The police officer took out his pager and showed the last message displayed on the beeper's green LCD screen. Red Jimny Katana D 183 KH, heading toward Nusa Dua, the message read.

"We have been looking for that vehicle ever since. Until now we have not been able to locate it," he said.

It was said that the particular vehicle, a red jeep with Bandung (West Java) license plates, was carrying a significant amount of explosive materials that may be used to stage a car- bomb attack in an effort to disrupt the presidential election on the island.

"Information on the vehicle was first received on Saturday evening, two days before the election runoff. We have been on top alert ever since," he acknowledged.

On the other hand, he also acknowledged that there was a great possibility that the tip was nothing but a hoax, particularly given the fact that a state-of-the-art bomb detector -- the island's police have four such sophisticated instruments -- had been utilized to scan every incoming vehicle on the island's western tip, at the Gilimanuk harbor ferry, the most likely point of entry for the vehicle.

"However, we don't want to take any chances. That's the reason why we deployed a large number of uniformed and plainclothes officers to track the vehicle," he said.

His attitude reflected the general sentiment that prevails among the island's security apparatus, who, after the terrorist attack in October 2002, take the issue of security on the island as their personal responsibility.

The attack involved a powerful car bomb and killed at least 202 people, mostly foreigners.

Naturally, security during the election runoff on Sept. 20 was very tight with a heavy presence of fully-armed, uniformed security personnel at various strategic places in Denpasar and major tourist areas, such as Kuta and Nusa Dua.

"We are all out in full force today, Police and the Army, " an Army intelligence officer said.

The charismatic Bali Police chief Maj. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika left his office early in the morning for the city of Tabanan while his deputy Brig. Gen. Teguh Sudarsono sped up north to the coastal city of Singaraja. Both cities are volatile areas, known for numerous politically-motivated violent clashes.

"The general (Mangku Pastika) refused to use the police helicopter, believing that by staying on the ground he would be able to direct his subordinates more effectively if something bad taken place," a police officer told.

Fortunately, the runoff went smoothly. A minor incident, involving drunken Megawati supporters burning car tires in Dalung, was swiftly dealt with by a truckload of riot police. Two perpetrators with a prolonged "hangover" were detained inside the Denpasar Police detention center.

The red jeep was nowhere in sight.

"Well, tracking a possible terrorist is surely a much better and nobler way of spending the night than playing cards with fellow officers," a police intelligence officer said.

"Absolutely, particularly when you are the worst card player in the whole Division Six (intelligence)," another officer joked.

Rumors of a possible terrorist attack was not the only thing that marred the runoff. The second thing was the low voter turnout.

For instance, in five polling stations in Pemecutan Kaja village, the percentage of voters who failed to show up ranged from 14 to 33 percent. Likewise in Sumerta village, the average percentage of "no show" voters at 20 polling stations reached 31 percent.

Moreover, the total number of "no show" voters in Badung regency reached 65,000.

Previously, the chairman of Bali's General Elections Commission (KPU) AA Oka Wisnumurti had expressed concern over the low voter turnout, claiming that it did not necessarily reflect the people's lack of enthusiasm in the country's political life.

"It is an unfortunate coincidence that election day, Sept. 20, falls on a day that is an auspicious day for Balinese Hindus," he said.

The election day fell on Kajeng Kliwon or Soma Kliwon Krulut, a very auspicious day according to the Balinese calendar. The day is deemed to be a dewasa ayu (good day) to hold various religious rituals in connection with both Dewa Yadnya (sacred offering to Gods) and Bhuta Yadnya (sacred offering to the natural forces).

"We have received information that many villages in Bali will hold huge temple rituals on that day. We are afraid that these rituals might influence the number of voters who will show up at polling stations," he said.

In the first-round of the presidential election the percentage of voters who did not show up at the polling stations, reached only 18.6 percent of a total 2,526,075 registered voters.

"There is a possibility that the percentage will reach 19 percent this time. However, I don't think that it will go beyond 20 percent out of a total of 2,530,260 registered voters," deputy chairman of Bali's KPU IGP Artha told.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the KPU had tabulated 85 percent of the total ballots. So far, Megawati Soekarnoputri led the race with 1,250,037 votes while Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) garnered 756, 241 votes.

In the first round of the presidential election Megawati received 1,115,788 votes, while SBY gained 654,127 votes.