Ex-communists eligible to vote

Ex-communists eligible to vote

JAKARTA (JP): A total of 7,055 Jakartans who were involved in
the 1965's coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party are
being allowed to participate in next year's general election.

The secretary of Jakarta's general election committee, Bagus
Suharyono, said yesterday that they were granted their rights to
cast ballots after various screenings.

"They have fulfilled the requirements set by the government,"
Bagus said, adding that there are a total of 10,388 ex-members of
the banned communist party in Jakarta.

The committee also announced that it would start registering
voters in Jakarta from May 1 to July 20. About 25,000 officials
will conduct door-to-door registrations.

Bagus said the registration was also aimed at finding out the
correct number of eligible voters in Jakarta.

The city population office estimates 6.46 million people will
take part in the general election, while according to the city
statistics office, 6.11 million voters will cast their ballots,
while mayoralty offices estimate only 5.4 million people will
vote.

Bagus also said that the committee will establish a total of
12,012 polls in five mayoralties.(yns)