Joint forces ready to secure first day of elections

P.C. Naommy and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Sunday that the police had finished deploying their forces to secure the general elections, including the safeguarding of the voting process, in which about 147 million voters will cast their ballots at about 557,600 polling stations throughout the archipelago.

In the meantime, Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD) head M. Taufik disclosed that police had decided to double the number of officers securing each polling station in the city from two to four.

"The officers have already been to the polling stations and are ready to secure the general elections," Da'i told General Elections Commission (KPU) members during a visit to the KPU headquarters.

KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin received the police chief upon his visit.

Taufik said police had doubled the number of polling station personnel in anticipation of demonstrations by unregistered voters or registered ones who had not received their voter's cards and could not, therefore, exercise their constitutional right.

Da'i issued the statement a day after receiving reports from 30 provincial police chiefs during a teleconference on Saturday. The session was also attended by Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs ad interim Hari Sabarno, and several other high-ranking officials.

National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko D.A. said that security arrangements remained as planned beforehand, including backup from security units from forces under operational command (BKO). The command includes Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel.

There are at least 5,518 BKO personnel in strife-torn Nanggroe Aceh Darusalam and 1,002 in Maluku province.

In Central Sulawesi, especially Poso, the police headquarters has deployed around 100 Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police in addition to the existing 800 BKO personnel.

"All the BKO units are under the coordination of the respective provincial police headquarters to maintain security in the provinces," said Soenarko.

The additional deployment in Poso came after a series of shooting incidents that resulted in the death of a clergyman and serious injury to an academic. The situation is already calm now.

Soenarko said that the police headquarters had also deployed its Brimob forces to several police stations in West Java, Jakarta and Banten provinces.

According to Soenarko, backup from the police headquarters was needed to fill the gaps in the regular provincial police forces caused by deployments of personnel to critical points and polling stations.

The police headquarters has sent 1,000 Brimob personnel to Jakarta, 900 to West Java and 300 to Banten.

Soenarko stated that a specific approach had been adopted in order to ensure security at polling stations.

Four polling stations will be guarded by a police officer assisted by eight security guards. For areas defined as having danger level 1 status, an officer plus six security guards will handle three polling stations. For areas at danger level 2, two polling stations will be guarded by a police officer and four security guards.

Meanwhile, Soenarko disclosed that a team carrying ballot papers was attacked by a group of unidentified people in Bogondini, Merauke, Papua.

Some team members, including officials from the local branch of the KPU and the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu), were injured.

Soenarko added that a policeman went missing after a boat safeguarding the distribution of ballot papers in Papua ran into difficulties in stormy waters.