JP/5/ugm
University educates poor people about elections
Sri Wahyuni The Jakarta Post Yogyakarta
Gadjah Mada University launched a political education program on Tuesday for poor urban people in a bid to prevent them from being manipulated and abused by political parties.
The program is to educate low-income people to become "critical voters" in the 2004 legislative and presidential elections, said the deputy dean of the university's School of Political and Social Sciences, Pratikno.
"This year we will focus on providing political education to the poor urban community in a bid to strengthen the position of this particular group of society in the upcoming elections," he said.
Pratikno, who led the launch ceremony, said the program was part of his school's planned five-year political education activities for the 2004-2009 period.
He said that starting next year, the program would target executives and legislators in order to encourage them to behave more professionally, increase the check-and-balance mechanism of their organizations and promote good governance.
Program coordinator Ari Dwipayana said the program was urgent and deserved the support of relevant agencies, especially ahead of the 2004 polls, while at the same time both the government and the General Elections Commission (KPU) were yet to adequately disseminate information on the elections.
A lack of such information could result in serious problems during the elections, such as a large number of invalid votes that in turn would disrupt the overall electoral process, he said.
Dwipayana said the program also aimed at preventing abuse of the political rights of voters, including vote-buying, thuggery and ballot manipulation during the elections.
"The program is relevant to encourage voters to take early action, so they will be able to avoid violence ahead, during and after the elections.
"It is also to organize voters in their efforts to create conflict resolution, so that any political conflict and rivalry will not have negative social impacts," he said.
Speaking at the same event, program field coordinator Arie Sudjito said the poor urban community had been chosen because sociologically it was considered a foot-loose community that did not have a strong sociocultural base.
As such, he said, the urban poor are vulnerable to any forceful action and intimidation by other community members of higher levels, including government officials and those claiming to be indigenous people.
"And because they are also economically marginalized, this particular group of community is also vulnerable to money politics," Sudjito said.
He said that 10 urban areas in Yogyakarta had been selected for the program. They are Terban, Cokrodirjan, Tungkak, Keparakan, Pasar Kembang, Gajah Wong, Gendingan, Jogoyudan, Badran and Kricak.
The areas were selected after the program's organizer received input from local activists and non-governmental organizations dealing with urban community affairs, he said.
Another university academic, Eric Hiariej, who is also involved in the program, said the political education program would be carried out through workshops involving some 40 student volunteers.
During the workshops, participants will be assisted to establish an agenda of action, he said.
Eric said that the program would be evaluated when it finished in May so that a similar program could be implemented for the presidential election in July.