Golkar, PDI Perjuangan and PDI set to dominate East Timor polls
Golkar, PDI Perjuangan and PDI set to dominate East Timor polls
DILI, East Timor (JP): The battle for six House of
Representatives (DPR) seats in Monday's elections here will
likely be dominated by Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), a local election official said.
Deputy chief of the East Timor General Elections Committee,
Aderito Hugo da Costa, said Friday the three parties have strong
infrastructures in all of the province's 13 regencies which
support the quest for victory.
"I'm confident that only Golkar, PDI and PDI Perjuangan will
dominate the ballot counting," he said. "The other 12 parties
which have branch offices here will find it difficult to grab the
allocated seats."
Da Costa, also an official from the Justice and Unity Party
(PKP), said the 12 parties could only organize their election
campaign in Dili, but failed to both introduce programs to local
people living in the other 12 regencies and persuade the eligible
voters to vote for them due to limited infrastructures.
In a separate interview, chief of Golkar's East Timor chapter
Armindo Soares Mariano said he was confident that his party will
secure 60 percent of the overall votes.
"With its new paradigm and independence from the bureaucracy
and the military, I'm sure that 60 percent of the votes are
already in Golkar's hands," he said.
Meanwhile, chief of the East Timor Elections Committee Gaspar
Sarmento suggested local people should provide evidence for the
allegations of intimidation by Golkar.
"We have not received any reports of intimidation by Golkar,
so far," Sarmento, also an official from the National Mandate
Party (PAN), told reporters Friday.
"The alleged intimidation are only rumors, aimed at disrupting
the elections," he said.
Sarmento's defense statement, however, was challenged by
Adelino Viegas, a resident of Bobonaro regency, who said that
physical intimidation was common.
"People in villages find intimidation is not a new technique
of Golkar's," he said.
Rumors have spread in town over the past few days that Golkar
officials have intimidated people to cast votes for the party
Monday.
Rector's Forum
Meanwhile, recruitment of volunteers for the provincial
chapter of Rector's Forum poll monitoring group ended in a
dispute and drew protest among the group's activists.
Several activists, who have been excluded from the list of
volunteers, charged the local coordinator of the poll monitoring
group of lacking in wisdom.
"We should have been informed from the outset how many
volunteers are needed. We've been recruited and trained, but
eventually rejected," said one volunteer.
Ignatius Suprih Sudrajat, coordinator of the Rector's Forum
East Timor chapter, said the policy to slash the number of
volunteers came from the group's central office.
"A facsimile received from the Rector's Forum main office in
Bandung on Wednesday ruled that only 346 out of 648 registered
volunteers will be deployed to help monitor Monday's election,"
he told reporters Friday. (33/imn)