Govt, TNI, police respond to KPU's logistics needs

Govt, TNI, police respond to KPU's logistics needs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the General Elections Commission (KPU) disclosed on
Wednesday that only 20 percent of the 660 million ballot papers
needed for the elections had been produced, on the same day,
President Megawati Soekarnoputri instructed the Indonesian
Military, the National Police and the Ministry of Transportation
to assist in the distribution of ballot papers nationwide.

Citing the result of a government study on 13 provinces,
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said the logistic issues
were among the most urgent that needed to be addressed before the
general election on April 5.

Hari assured the government would not interfere with other
electoral preparations being made by the KPU, and that the
logistics assistance was provided at the commission's request.

KPU chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin, who accompanied Hari
during the media briefing, concurred: "I would like to stress
that this is not government intervention, as it was I who asked
for the support."

He echoed Megawati's optimism that election day would be held
as scheduled.

In contrast to Nazaruddin's confidence, in Semarang, Central
Java, KPU member Mulyana W Kusumah merely expressed his hope that
the contracted ballot paper printers could finish their tasks at
least by March 20. In regards the ballot boxes, he said the
commission was still 30 percent short of the nearly two million
needed.

In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, PT Surya Agung, the company
in charge of procuring 11.9 million ballot papers, has thrown in
the towel. It informed the KPU it would not be able to meet the
deadlines and unilaterally terminated its contract.

Provincial General Elections Commission (KPUD) member
Mappinawang blamed the KPU for its refusal to award the job to
companies other than PT Surya Agung.

"There are 10 companies that offered not only a better price,
but also readiness to meet the deadline," Mappinawang said.

In Surakarta, Central Java, PT Pabelan Cerdas Nusantara (PCN),
one of 18 contracted printers for the province threatened to stop
printing unless it received a 20 percent hike. A company
executive said Rp 275 per ballot paper was far below actual
printing costs.

"Each regency and municipality has different kinds of paper,
and it strongly influences our production cost," PCN manager
Sasongko said on Wednesday.

Apart from providing ballot papers for the province, PCN has
also been assigned to provide ballot papers for the provinces of
Maluku, North Maluku, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Riau
and Bangka-Belitung.

Meanwhile, the Tangerang KPUD discovered on Tuesday some 6,000
fake ballot papers in Benda village, Pamulang district.

The fake ballot papers were found after officers of the local
election committee (PPS) became suspicious because the ballot
papers did not match the head-count on the Temporary Voter List
for Fixed Voting Subprecinct (DPS-DPT).

Tangerang KPUD chief Jamaluddin said on Wednesday that the
6,000 fake ballots were found on Jl. Olah Raga, Pamulang.

"It is highly unlikely that a neighborhood unit in the village
has up to 6,000 voters," he said.

Jamaluddin believed the mistake was made by voter registration
officers, and had instructed the district election committee to
withdraw all ballot papers from Benda village.

In Surabaya, East Java, a legislative candidate from the
Pancasila Patriots' Party, Mukhlas, claimed he had come across
several fake ballot papers in the city.

A taxi driver had allegedly found several ballots left behind
in his car and handed them over to Mukhlas. The Surabaya KPUD has
also received fake ballots.