Govt gives KPU margin until April 2

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government, the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the House of Representatives agreed on Tuesday to wait until April 2 to decide whether to delay the polls in certain areas due to problems in distributing election materials.

KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin said, at a press conference held after a meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri and House leaders late on Tuesday, that all had agreed the election should take place as planned on April 5.

"But due to geographical problems in some regions, we will monitor the situation until three days before election day. The government, in this case the home minister/interim security minister, will help us because it has a network that extends to the lowest administrative level," he said.

Megawati and House speaker Akbar Tandjung accompanied Nazaruddin during the conference, summing up the tripartite meeting that lasted more than three hours.

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda and Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra also attended the meeting.

The KPU, House leaders and the government will reconvene if the commission is unable to confirm by April 2 that a simultaneous election would take place, said Nazaruddin.

"But let's not speculate on something that has not yet happened," he said.

The government has prepared a regulation in lieu of law that will allow the KPU to delay the election in particular areas that are facing unsettled distribution problems.

"We thank the justice minister for preparing the draft regulation, but the election must take place simultaneously, otherwise it will spark uncertainty," Nazaruddin said.

He reiterated that the legitimacy of the election would remain intact despite the KPU's failure to comply with Article 45, Election Law No. 12/2003, which stipulates that all election materials must arrive at polling stations 10 days before election day.

"We have talked to the lawmakers, who said the reasoning behind the deadline was to make sure everything was ready 10 days before the polls. But they said there were no legal consequences if we failed to make the deadline," Nazaruddin said.

The draft regulation prepared by Yusril will amend Article 45 as well as Article 119 of the Election Law.

Article 119 on conditions for delayed elections states the polls can be delayed only in the case of a riot, security disturbance or natural disaster.

Despite repeated assurances of an adequate supply of election materials, some 100,000 eligible voters in Papua may be unable to exercise their right to vote, as they are not registered at the local elections commission.

Governor Jaap Salossa expressed his worry about the situation if the problem was left unsettled.

"They may come to polling stations and demand to exercise their right to vote. It can cause trouble if they are not accepted," the governor said.

Over 2,200 voters in Manado, North Sulawesi, may also be unable to vote. Manado Mayor Wempie Frederik said the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) had discovered some 12,000 additional eligible voters, but the KPU had approved only 9,767 voters.

He said those voters who would not be able to exercise their political right would only be able to vote in the July 5 presidential election.

Meanwhile, Minahasa KPU member Dennie Rompas estimated that some 10,000 voters in Manado were as yet unregistered for the April 5 election.

"We have a difficult choice to make. If we allow those unregistered voters to exercise their right, we will violate the General Election Law. If we do not allow them to vote, we will legitimize abstaining voters," he said.