Hi-tech ballot counting to be introduced

Hi-tech ballot counting to be introduced

JAKARTA (JP): The University of Indonesia will exhibit on Monday afternoon a computerized ballot counting system designed to prevent cheating in the upcoming general election.

A Sunday press release from the university stated the system -- called SI CACAH, an Indonesian acronym for "simple, informative, credible, safe, speedy, accurate and economical" -- would speed up the bureaucratic process. The principle by which the system works is called SOS, or "speed, zero defect and safe".

Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid, chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Rudini and activists from poll committees and poll watch organizations are scheduled to attend the demonstration in the hall of the Medical School at the University of Indonesia, Central Jakarta, at noon.

Past elections under the New Order regime also used computerized ballot counting, but cheating and rigging were rampant.

Meanwhile, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, a British organization that draws on the skills and experience of the British Houses of Parliament in Westminster, will run a series of workshops in cooperation with the KPU over the next two weeks in support of the June 7 general election.

Workshops will take place in Jakarta (April 20 to April 21), Medan (April 23 to April 24), Surabaya (April 26 to April 27) and Ujungpandang (April 29 to April 30).

Participants will include representatives of the 48 political parties registered to contest the poll, government representatives, independent election monitoring groups, election administrators, the media and university representatives.

Issues to be covered will include election law and procedure, election campaigning, constructive opposition, policy development and the relationship between political parties, the media and other organizations.

Titled Toward a Code of Conduct for Political Parties in the Elections, the workshop will feature Rudini and Afan Gaffar of KPU and British MP Mark Fisher.

Further information can be obtained from the Press and Public Affairs Officer Ivy Nasution, at the British Embassy on (21) 3144229 extension 4248.

The British government has committed US$3 million to support the election process in Indonesia. The aid will be channeled through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and UNDP- coordinated projects in support of election monitoring groups, local radio and for establishing the code of conduct.

ABRI

High-ranking military officials reiterated during the weekend the Armed Force's (ABRI) neutrality in the elections, citing the approach as the best option to respond to various political problems.

Territorial chief Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, identified three reasons why elections were the best option for the country, the first of which was the recent dramatic political upheavals.

"Usually, in countries which experience such a situation, a process is launched to learn what people really think. It's usually in the form of a general election that will establish a more legitimate administration," Susilo said during a break in a seminar on the new role of the police and the military in Bandung, West Java.

The second reason was the current "political euphoria" felt by people because their sovereignty was being restored. The most democratic option for such a community was elections, he said.

The last reason was wide-spread condemnation of the current administration.

"If this is what people think, then we should hold honest, fair, direct and free elections so a legitimate administration can be built," he said.

In Medan, North Sumatra, chief of the Bukit Barisan Military Command overseeing Sumatra, Maj. Gen. Rachman Gaffar, again pledged ABRI impartiality toward all political parties.

ABRI officers would no longer call, suggest or persuade any members of the community vote for specified parties.

In a written address to a meeting of the Indonesian Christian Students Movement, Gaffar said members of the ABRI Big Family "could choose any parties they want".

In Jakarta, former vice president Try Sutrisno, who is chairman of the Association of Retired Servicemen (Pepabri), said on Friday that elections was the gate through which the nation can enter true democracy and to establish a democratic government.

During former president Soeharto's New Order regime, the military, along with the bureaucracy, was part of an immense political machine that kept Golkar in victory and perpetuated the regime.

Also in Medan, three students continued on Sunday a hunger strike they began last Thursday to boycott the general election.

Mus Muliadi and T. Yans Fauzie from Muhammadiyah Sumatra Utara University and Oslan Purba from Sumatra Utara University began their strike at the traffic roundabout on Jl. Gatot Subroto.

"We will continue the strike until elections on June 7," one of the students said.

The students are also protesting the slow ongoing corruption investigation into Soeharto and his associates. (swe/43/21)