Govt gives KPU margin until April 2

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.