Election emergency plans

Election emergency plans

Having denied the facts for weeks while apparently waiting for
some kind of miracle to happen, the General Elections Commission
(KPU) yesterday was finally forced to admit it would be
practically impossible for the country to hold simultaneous
legislative elections throughout the country on April 5.

Speaking after a meeting with President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, KPU boss Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin conceded the
commission had no other choice but to delay the balloting in
several regions, especially in remote areas in Kalimantan,
Maluku, Papua, Aceh and North Sulawesi.

Because the law requires the election should be conducted
simultaneously, however, the government, the House of
Representatives (DPR) and the Commission now need to work
together to provide a legal framework to serve as a legal base
for the delay. Any postponements will create more problems in
vote counting. They will also delay the announcement of the final
election result.

We regret the commission has buried its head in the sand on
this issue because local KPU officials have been openly
complaining about the slow printing process and erratic delivery
of ballot papers, ink and other materials. If the commission had
acted earlier, the problem could have been solved faster with
less cost.

But the problems are not just about ballot papers. In Jakarta
alone, thousands of registered voters have yet to receive their
voting cards. In several regions, there are reportedly not enough
funds to build simple polling booths. There are reports the
information technology (IT) network prepared by the KPU is still
not operational in many places. There is also concern over
security issues surrounding the vote counting.

In facing this emergency, however, we hope the political
parties, the House of Representatives and the government, will
not waste more time and blame only the General Elections
Commission for the delay, or wash their hands of this failure.
House members must remember they also could be blamed for this
problem, because of their failure to pass election-related bills
on time last year.

Despite these shortcomings, however, many people still respect
the integrity of the commission's members. They are certainly
undertaking a huge task, and as most of them are academics who
have no experience in bureaucratic work, to a certain extent we
can understand the shortcomings.

It is time now to sit down together to ensure the delay will
be as minimal as possible, and to control the damage it might
cause. It is hoped all parties will refrain from exploiting the
commission's blunder, putting their own short-sighted interests
above those of the nation's.

Containing the damaged that has been caused by the delay must
be our main focus now.

In this context, we regard the threat of Minister of Justice
and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra on Monday to jail KPU
members as unproductive. As a government official and as the
leader of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) he should show his
statesmanship in resolving this crisis. It is also regrettable
the Golkar Party has found it necessary to issue a statement --
from executive Agung Laksono -- rejecting any election delays.
While we can understand the parties' disappointment, their
remarks will only worsen the situation.

The KPU is expected to use all possible resources, including
Indonesian Military (TNI) transportation, to accelerate the
delivery of the ballot papers and speed up other election
activities. While it must maintain its independence, the KPU must
be more flexible from now on in overseeing the counting of the
ballots and other related activities.

The election must be held as scheduled, although postponements
in certain areas seem unavoidable. But the principles of a free,
just and democratic election must not be sidelined just because
initial deadlines were not met.

The show must go on. When these legislative elections are
over, we will still have to face the July 5 direct presidential
election and a possible runoff on Sept. 20. If this legislative
election is derailed because of technical problems, the next
election will also be in doubt.