Indonesia ready and waiting for historic elections

Indonesia ready and waiting for historic elections

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Makassar/Pekanbaru

Indonesia is putting the finishing touches on preparations for
the historic presidential election runoff on Monday, and the
country appears ready for the polls despite some minor glitches.

The excitement was already building on Saturday, with
residents of neighborhood units around the country erecting
polling stations.

There was a slight increase in the number of passengers at
Pulogadung bus terminal in North Jakarta, as people returned to
their hometowns to cast their votes.

The government has announced that Monday is a national
holiday, to give all eligible voters a chance to make it to the
polls. At least 153 million people have registered for the
runoff, which will pit Megawati Soekarnoputri against Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono.

General Elections Commission (KPU) member Anas Urbaningrum,
said on Saturday election materials had reached all 567,000
polling stations across the country.

"Everything is ready. We are now waiting for the vote on
Monday," Anas said.

The polls are expected to close at 1 p.m. on Monday, although
it is possible that individual polling stations will close
earlier if all of the voters registered with the stations in
question have already cast their votes.

In the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, local KPU head
Aidir Amin Daud promised the voting on Monday would take place
without incident despite a threat from some poll committee
members to go on strike for more money.

"God willing, the vote will run smoothly. All of the materials
such as ballot papers, ink and forms have arrived at all of the
polling stations," he said.

He said budget constraints prevented his office from paying
poll committee members more money. He added that the governor had
ordered regents and mayors to assist the KPU should the strike
take place.

The local KPU in Riau also said it had completed the
preparations for Monday's polls, including paying poll committee
members.

"We have distributed all of the ballot materials to all of the
polling stations here, and finished the training 14,000 poll
committees members," Riau KPU head Raja Sofyan Samad said.

He said he had instructed all poll committee members to do
everything in their power to prevent any clashes between
supporters of the two presidential candidates.

In the West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak, local KPU head
Aida Mochtar said his office was prepared for heavy rains and
possible flooding that could disrupt the polls, as occurred
during the first round of the presidential election in July.

"Most of the poll stations are now located inside to avoid any
disruptions," she said

Much of the province has experienced heavy rains over the past
week.

The head of East Java's KPU office, Wahyudi Purnomo, expressed
concern that rain could disrupt the vote counting in remote
areas.

Wahyudi said his office had prepared 400 fishing boats to
carry ballot papers from Bawean island to the mainland, and cars
to transport ballot papers from polling station located in
mountainous and coastal areas.

In Palu, Central Sulawesi, district poll committees in East
Palu and West Palu said some polling stations under their
supervision had yet to receive all of their ballot papers.

In Lubuk Linggau, South Sulawesi, 783 first-time voters
complained that they had not received their voter cards, although
local poll officials have told the voters they will still be able
to cast their ballots. Normally, people who cannot produce their
voter cards are not allowed to vote.