JP/5/ELECTION

JP/5/ELECTION

Spirits high in Makassar ahead of direct election

Andi Hajramurni
The Jakarta Post/Makassar

The direct elections of regional government heads are scheduled
for June this year. And, in some places in the country, residents
are gearing up for the main event by voting for their community
leaders.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, a community unit (RW) recently
held a direction election for its head. The election system was
based on that of last year's presidential election.

A polling station was set up at the official residence of the
Mariso district head. The election was attended by 302 residents
of Community Unit 3 in Kampung Buyang subdistrict in Mariso.

Chairs were arranged in a tent for the residents to sit on
before their names were called out by the election committee.
After receiving a ballot paper from a committee member, the
residents entered the polling booth one at a time and were asked
to dip their finger in ink to make a fingerprint, which would
prevent them from voting twice. The polling booth and ballot
boxes were the ones used for the presidential election.

The polling station was decorated with pictures of the
candidates. A large banner nearby read: "With the direct election
of the community unit head, we strengthen democracy ahead of the
direct election of Makassar mayor."

The voting wound up at 3 p.m. Chairul Anwar Korompot won a
landslide victory with 200 votes, defeating Saharudin and Abdul
Kadir, who earned 50 and 51 votes respectively. Only one ballot
was declared invalid.

Chief of the election committee Franky Lawalata said
preparations for the election, which had been staged at a cost of
Rp 5 million, had started a month beforehand.

The idea to hold the election had been a local resident's.
When head of Kampung Buyang subdistrict Andi Martan learned of
the idea he had welcomed it as an opportunity to educate people
on voting procedures ahead of the regional government head
elections.