Elections on schedule despite preparation snags

Elections on schedule despite preparation snags

JAKARTA (JP): Reports of glitches in the logistics of poll
preparations continued to stream in from various regions on
Saturday, but the National Elections Committee (PPI) was
confident the poll will take place as scheduled on Monday.

PPI chairman Jacob Tobing said materials such as ballot
papers, hologram stickers to be attached to the sheets, related
forms and documents have reached the polling stations.

The election authorities estimated 320,000 polling stations
are being readied across the country for 112 million registered
voters. An estimated 60 percent of the voters live in rural
areas.

In addition, at least 60 percent of the votes will have been
tabulated by Monday evening.

Jacob said preparations commenced satisfactorily even in
regions which were affected by violence and clashes.

"We hope this conducive situation can be maintained until the
voting day," he said.

The reports of lack of preparation came from various areas.

In Buton, Southeast Sulawesi, the local elections committee
has yet to receive 40,000 hologram stickers and other materials
for the polls from the General Elections Commission (KPU) and
PPI.

The committee's secretary, D.J. Gultom, told The Jakarta Post
on Saturday, "We are very nervous because the hologram stickers
are needed to determine the validity of the ballot sheets."

Gultom said the regency needed 759,084 hologram stickers but
has received only 720,000 stickers from KPU.

The regency is currently accommodating more than 50,000
refugees from the riot-stricken Maluku capital of Ambon, with
20,000 of them being eligible voters.

Gultom said, however, the local chapters of the political
parties have agreed to continue with the poll even if the
hologram stickers failed to reach capital Bau-bau on Monday.

Committee chairman Ambo Sakka threatened earlier to cancel the
poll in the regency if the KPU insisted on having the stickers
affixed to the ballot sheets.

The local chapter of the University Network for Free and Fair
Elections (UNFREL) found that at least 158 polling stations out
of the 690 necessary have yet to be set up.

"The committee said that it had set up all of the polling
stations but we found 158 have yet to be erected," UNFREL's
coordinator La Asa said.

The poll may also have to be delayed in some areas in Maluku
because facilities such as the forms and the indelible ink needed
to prevent multiballoting have yet to reach there.

Maluku's election committee executive A. Rahawarin told Antara
on Saturday, "We are working to complete the preparations for the
polls."

Rahawarin said at least four regencies -- North Maluku,
Central Maluku, South East Maluku and Tual -- reported a lack of
polls materials.

"We have contacted KPU, but officials there replied that the
materials have been brought in on a chartered plane," he said.

"The polls can be postponed for up to 30 days after June 7.
It's allowed by the regulation," Rahawarin said.

Back in Jakarta, UNFREL chairman Todung Mulya Lubis said that
the organization is ready to monitor Monday's poll.

"We call on the public to report to us if they find violations
during the polls," Lubis said on Saturday.

He said UNFREL has deployed 105,000 volunteers to monitor
polling stations in 22 provinces.

On Saturday, UNFREL activists distributed brochures and
orchids to motorists at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in
Central Jakarta.

The city was free of political parties' supporters' noisy
motorcades on Saturday. The day was, instead, marked by officials
and workers cleaning up and dismantling party symbols and
attributes, which have accumulated for at least the past three
weeks.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, Jakarta Military Commander Maj.
Gen. Djadja Suparman and representatives of all political
parties, witnessed the start of the dismantling on Jl. Thamrin at
Friday midnight.

Sutiyoso said the city administration had set Sunday midnight
as the deadline for the removal of all party attributes from
various spots in the capital.

Thousands of wooden posts, known as "command posts", erected
throughout the city by supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri of
the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), had
to be demolished as well, he said.

"All will have to be pulled down and I hope all parties
concerned can accept this decision and implement it as soon as
possible," he said.

In Yogyakarta, supporters of PDI Perjuangan repainted the red
posts white or tore them down.

Mesan, a Sleman resident, said here on Saturday, "It's
actually better to just paint the posts white so they can be used
as security outposts, rather than tearing them down,"
(27/44/48/jun)