Elections riddled with infractions, reports say

Elections riddled with infractions, reports say

JAKARTA (JP): Reports of widespread vote-rigging have been
flowing in to Jakarta faster than the notoriously slow returns
from the June 7 general election, with the Golkar Party saddled
with most of the flak.

Most common violations of the electoral rules include vote
buying, government officials favoring Golkar, misuse of state
facilities and intimidation.

Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP) activists
reportedly spotted an intelligence police officer, Zulfikar
Basaudi, casting his vote in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra.

Under Indonesian electoral laws, members of the Indonesian
Military and Police are barred from voting.

After voting, Zulfikar reportedly made a speech, encouraging
people to reject the polls because he said the ink used on the
ballots was substandard.

In North Mukomuko district in the neighboring province of
Bengkulu, the Indonesian Election Monitoring Organizations
Committee (Koppi) found five illegal polling booths which
provided 500 votes to Golkar.

Koppi activists said the illegal polling places were initiated
by district election committee members who sympathized with
Golkar. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) is ahead in votes in the area.

Vote buying, the most common violation allegedly perpetrated
by Golkar, is also reported to have occurred in Timor Tengah
Selatan district, East Nusa Tenggara. Twelve Golkar district
officials have admitted to receiving Rp 100,000 each from a
Golkar legislative candidate seeking their support.

In Yogyakarta, dozens of supporters of the Democratic People's
Party (PRD) held a demonstration on the campus of Gadjah Mada
University to demand that the poll supervisory authorities
disqualify Golkar and the People's Sovereignty Party (PDR) for
alleged vote buying and misuse of state facilities.

From Palu in Central Sulawesi, Antara reported on Saturday
that it found a radiogram from the Banggai regent here
instructing officials to help ensure a win in the polls for a
particular party.

It quoted the head of the provincial secretariat of the
University Network for Free and Fair Elections (Unfrel), Iwan
Gunawan, as saying members of the local election committees acted
on the instruction by opening ballot boxes a few hours before
vote tallying when witnesses were not present.

Unfrel also said in almost all villages several envelopes at
polling stations in the Banggai islands were not sealed after the
poll and ballot papers were not marked.

Iwan also charged the local Golkar treasurer of distributing
Rp 5,000 to each resident in the transmigration complex of Toili
VIII in Toili district.

In Bangket village in Bunta district, Unfrel said the key to a
ballot box was being held by the police. Intervention of police
in the poll process is illegal. Poll committee members except
Gokar were not allowed to monitor the sending of ballot boxes to
the district committee, the agency reported.

Iwan said the network would immediately report all serious
violations to the official supervisory election committee in the
province. It also will urge the committee to disqualify the
parties from participating in the next phase of the polls, which
is the allocation of seats following tabulation.

Unfrel did not approve of reholding the polls "because it will
be the people who would bear the costs".

Twenty-five parties grouped in the Communication Forum of
Political Parties in Banggai regency have urged the regional
election committee to restage the vote in Banggai.

Forum chairman Basri Sono, a former deputy regent, said the
forum found "strong evidence" of attempts at vote buying by
Golkar and local officials.

The chairman of the provincial chapter of Golkar, Djar'un
Sibay, denied the charges. Golkar was leading as of Saturday,
followed by PDI Perjuangan and the United Development Party
(PPP).

In South Sulawesi the Forum on Women's Issues noted various
violations committed by different political parties, such as
campaigning during the cooling-off period and money politics.

In a statement signed by Zohra Andi Baso, the organization
supported the growing demand to repeat polls in South Sulawesi
due to rampant allegations of vote-rigging.

In Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, the chairman of the provincial
elections committee, Chris Boro Tokan, said on Sunday the polls
could be repeated here if discrepancies found in tallying could
not be resolved. However, the polls could not be repeated if they
was held past the June 17 deadline when provinces are scheduled
to announce their final results to the General Elections
Commission.

Earlier, the chapter of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) protested the results, charging
instances of vote-rigging. Boro Tokan told Antara he had received
complaints from several parties about mistakes in the counting
process and intimidation against election officials.

However, he said as long as the official supervisory committee
and independent monitoring bodies did not report any indications
of cheating the provincial committee could not decide to repeat
the polls.

Apart from indications of vote-rigging, the PDI Perjuangan
provincial chapter also reported the intervention of officials in
the voting process and acts of intimidation toward people to vote
for the Golkar Party.

"In the Teluk Mutiara district in Alor regency the number of
votes are more than the number of voters," the party's chairman,
Anton E. Haba said.

From Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, the University Network for
Free and Fair Elections (Unfrel) said a volunteer found a village
official had threatened to cut power and water supplies if people
did not vote for a certain party.

Spokesman Iwan Rompo said the incident was uncovered in the
Wangi-Wangi district in Buton regency where some 25,000 refugees
who fled the Maluku violence cast their ballots.

In the same district in the Kapota village Unfrel also found
that an elections committee pierced leftover unpierced ballot
papers before placing them in ballot boxes.

On Saturday in Malang, East Java, the official supervisory
election committee reported that two Unfrel volunteers tore up
123 ballot papers. The incident took place in Banbang village in
Wajak district, Antara reported. However, the Malang elections
committee said they were spoiled ballot papers not used in the
polls, and that the case had been reported to police.
(40/44/23/yac/anr/pan)