Funding problems delay KPUD office setups

Funding problems delay KPUD office setups

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The late disbursement of election funds from the central
government has hampered the establishment of Regional General
Elections Commission (KPUD) offices in several provinces, which
could delay the 2004 elections.

West Java, East Java, North Sumatra and South Sulawesi are
among the provinces that have not yet established their regional
elections commissions, whose main duty it is to verify the
presence of political parties in regions before declaring them
eligible to take part in the general election.

In West Java, the General Elections Commission (KPU) had to
borrow operational funds from the local administration, but due
to the belated transfer of funds from the central government it
cannot elect KPUD members to begin the verification process of
political parties.

"It is difficult for us, we should have begun the selection of
KPUD members in February but due to the absence of funds we
cannot afford it," the province's KPUD spokesman, Bahtiar
Sebayang, said on Tuesday.

He said the KPU was committed to providing Rp 386 million for
the daily operations of the KPUD, which was still not enough to
cover all of its expenditures.

"We have borrowed stationery from the local administration and
Rp 100 million in cash to finance operations," Bahtiar said.

Most provinces have established KPUD secretariats since
February and have begun the process of selecting members for the
regional elections commissions. The members will be elected by
independent teams appointed by local administrations, but the
entire process is to be funded by the KPU.

KPU expects that by April 4 all of the provinces will have
submitted the names of the candidates for their respective KPUD
offices.

Each KPUD will consist of five members, who cannot be part of
the bureaucracy or members of political parties, which is meant
to maintain the independency of the commissions.

West Java Governor Nuriana said the local administration had
the obligation to finance the KPUD, but the provincial
legislature had not approved the extra budget.

There is a similar problem in East Java, where as of the
beginning of the voter registration process on Tuesday local KPUD
secretary Nadjib said that he had yet to receive the Rp 33
billion from the KPU to fund its activities.

North Sumatra KPUD secretary Abdul Muthalib also said it would
be difficult for him to meet the April 4 deadline for submitting
names of candidates due to financial constraints.

"What can I say, the election process for the KPUD members has
been delayed because we have yet to received any funding," Abdul
said.

In South Sulawesi, despite the late disbursement of funds the
election of KPUD members is moving forward thanks to financial
support from the local administration.

"We will meet the deadline. We will send the names to the KPU
before April 4," South Sulawesi Governor Amin Syam said.