Elections may fall behind schedule
Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A General Elections Commission (KPU) member warned on Monday that cutting budget allocations for the information system and ballot printing would disrupt preparations for the 2004 elections.
KPU has scheduled the legislative election for April 5 and has planned to organize a two-phase presidential election in June and August next year.
The KPU member, who declined to be named, told The Jakarta Post on Monday that the commission had decided to cover the shortfall of Rp 40 billion for voter registration by reducing expenditures for the information system -- installing computers in all regencies to speed up vote counting -- and ballot printing, by the same amount.
"At the moment, the commission is running a 'mission impossible' task. Reallocation is not a solution as it will hamper the preparation process for other posts," the source said.
The source stressed that even with an adequate budget, the commission would still find it difficult to come up with the results of the election on schedule due to the country's large size and population.
"Look at the size of this country as 130 million people are estimated to be participating in the voting process. It will take more than a month to come up with the election results," he said.
Indonesia will have its first ever direct presidential election in 2004.
There has been some skepticism over KPU's ability to hold the presidential election on time as it leaves only a short period of time until the inauguration of the new president in October, when President Megawati Soekarnoputri's term officially ends.
The source said KPU would have a hard time meeting the schedule as the two-month interval between each election process was insufficient for counting the ballots, announcing the results, ruling how many seats the parties are entitled to have at the House of Representatives, giving time for parties to form coalitions and finally giving chances for parties to campaign.
"On top of that, KPU must print and distribute over 130 million new ballots nationwide for the two-phase presidential elections," he said.
New Zealand, a country of only about 4 million people, but with more advanced technology and equipment, needs a month after voting day to tally the results and count how many seats each party receives in the parliament before the parties form coalitions to nominate the prime minister.
"We will have to do all of that with a lot more people in a lot larger area with a lot less technology and now less funding," he said.
Meanwhile, Yusacc Sos, KPU secretary, told the Post that the general election should run normally in accordance with the schedule.
"Each day we discuss the best possible solution to meet the schedule on time," he said.
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General Election 2004 Budget (After Revision) --------------------------------------------------------------- Legislative Election Rp 3.023 billion Two-Phase Presidential Elections Rp 800 billion Voter Registration Rp 40 billion
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Total Rp 3.863 billion
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2004 General Election Schedules --------------------------------------------------------------- April 1, 2003 : Voter registration begins April 30, 2003 : The formation of provincial KPU May 30, 2003 : The formation of regental KPU September 27, 2003 : Party registration deadline April 5, 2004 : Legislative Election June 2004* : First presidential election August 2004* : Second presidential election September 20, 2004 : Inauguration of Indonesia's new president *prediction
Source: KPU