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.