Independent observers prepare for July 5 presidential election
Independent observers prepare for July 5 presidential election
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta
Independent election monitors are gearing up to observe the
presidential election on July 5, in which over 154 million people
are eligible to vote.
One of the largest poll watchdog groups, the Indonesian
People's Network for Voter Education (JPPR), said on Tuesday that
it would send some 100,000 observers to over 581,000 polling
stations across the 32 provinces.
"Our observers will be deployed in 351 districts and 2,020
subdistricts ... including those who will be assigned to monitor
the poll in the country's hot spots such as Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam, Papua and Poso in Central Sulawesi," JPPR national
coordinator Gunawan Hidayat told a press briefing here.
Gunawan was optimistic that with the sheer number of observers
at JPPR's disposal, it could conduct an effective monitoring and
draw up a quick assessment of the poll.
The network, consisting of 24 non-governmental organizations,
assigned more than 141,000 observers for the April 5 legislative
election.
Another local election watchdog, the Center for Electoral
Reform (Cetro) said that it would deploy over 15,000 observers in
11 of the country's 32 provinces during and after election day.
Cetro's deputy director Hadar N. Gumay said that of that
number, 7,000 observers would be assigned on election day, while
another 8,000 would monitor the tallying of the votes at the poll
committee (PPS) and subdistrict polling committee (PPK) levels.
"Learning from what transpired during the legislative
elections that vote-rigging took place mostly in the PPS and PPK,
we have decided to assign more of our observers to monitor vote-
tallying on those levels," he said.
Hadar also said that more observers would be deployed in
regions where a larger-than-normal amount irregularities were
reported in the legislative elections, such as North Sumatra,
West Kalimantan and East Java, specifically Madura.
Foreign monitoring teams have also arrived in the country.
The Australian embassy said here on Tuesday that politicians
and officials would set up a monitoring team that would
coordinate with observers from other countries to monitor the
presidential elections.
Members of the team will be deployed across the country as
part of Canberra's ongoing commitment to Indonesia's democratic
and electoral processes, said the statement as quoted by the
Agence-France Presse.
Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Chris Gallus,
will lead the team, which includes Australian Labor Party Senator
Ruth Webber and nine officials supported by staff from the
Jakarta embassy.
Earlier, the International Observer Resource Center said that
some 570 observers will spread out across the country, following
an invitation from the General Elections Commission (KPU).
Among them is a team from the Carter Center which will be led
by former United States President Jimmy Carter and his wife
Rosalynn. The Carter Center also observed the 1999 elections and
the April poll.