June 7 polls to be closely watched

June 7 polls to be closely watched

JAKARTA (JP): Among dozens of local election watchdogs ready
to monitor the June 7 general election, the Independent Election
Monitoring Committee (KIPP), the University Network for Free and
Fair Elections (Unfrel) and the Rectors Forum have emerged as the
biggest and most respected. The following are their brief
profiles.

KIPP

KIPP was the first independent election monitoring body to be
established in the country. More than 50 journalists, lawyers,
statesmen and activists founded KIPP in Jakarta on March 15,
1996.

At its establishment, KIPP drew disapproval and acceptance.
The government, the ruling Golkar party and the Armed Forces at
that time rejected the watchdog on the grounds that it was
against the law.

They argued that Indonesia already had an official state poll
supervision body. Meanwhile the minority parties, United
Development Party (PPP) and Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI),
welcomed it.

KIPP became the first independent election watchdog in the
country when it monitored the 1997 general election, the last
elections under the Soeharto administration.

In the beginning, KIPP was piloted by 13 presidium members,
led by chief editor of Tempo magazine Goenawan Mohamad, with
Mulyana W. Kusumah as secretary-general. Goenawan, however, is no
longer active in the committee, making Mulyana its sole pilot.

The presidium is supported by the National Advisory Board,
chaired by Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid. Other prominent
figures sit on the advisory board like lawyer Adnan Buyung
Nasution, former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin, political observer
Arbi Sanit and Zumrotin K. Susilo of the Indonesian Consumers
Foundation.

As the first poll monitoring body in Indonesia, to date KIPP
has more than 40,000 volunteers and hopes to increase the number
to 60,000 to cover 23 out of the country's 27 provinces.
Provinces not covered are Irian Jaya, Maluku, East Timor and East
Nusa Tenggara.

Among its volunteers are student and labor activists.

To run its activities, KIPP receives financial support from
various local and international agencies, including the Asia
Foundation, the Occupational Training Institute (OTI), Friedrich
Neumann Stiftung (FNS) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

"We have received Rp 300 million (US$34,000) in donations from
the Asia Foundation, Rp 200 million from OTI, Rp 150 million from
FNS and Rp 10 million from FES," Leopold Sudaryono of the
presidium board said.

In addition, it has also secured Rp 2.7 billion in funding
from the UNDP.

"Our mission is to ensure free and fair elections through
monitoring and increasing people's political awareness and
participation through training and election monitoring," Leopold
said.

Unfrel

Unfrel, founded in Jakarta on Dec. 4, 1998, comprises dozens
of private and state universities in the country, banding
together to ensure free and fair elections.

Initiated by 14 universities, Unfrel now spans more than 100
universities in the country, including 40 in Jakarta, said
spokesman Agung Hendradi Kuswardjanto Kemlani.

Among the founding universities are the University of
Indonesia, Trisakti University and Atma Jaya University, all in
Jakarta, Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Diponegoro
University in Semarang, Airlangga University and Sepuluh November
Institute of Technology in Surabaya and Hasanuddin University in
Ujungpandang.

Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono gave his
seal of approval to Unfrel by turning up at the forum's inaugural
meeting, in which he warned the forum's members of the dangers of
the political process.

"Please be very careful ... You have to keep an objective and
clear view on the matter. This is a tough job to do and safety
should come first," Juwono said.

Agung claims the network has 159,440 volunteers in 23
provinces. It has no volunteers in Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara,
East Timor and Bengkulu.

"We are unable as yet to include the first three provinces due
to technical difficulties, while Bengkulu will be handled by the
Rectors Forum," Ani Soetjipto of Unfrel said.

Lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, one of Unfrel coordinators, said
the network still lacked volunteers to cover all polling places.

"Ideally there should be one volunteer for each of the 251,000
polling places. But we have to be realistic. We cannot afford
that many," he said.

To finance its activities, Unfrel has received some Rp 5
billion ($568,000) in a grant from the UNDP. It expects more aid
from other international organizations.

In addition, the network also will receive some 2,000 Nokia
cellular phones from the Finnish government as technical
assistance in ballot counting.

Rectors Forum

The Rectors Forum was established in Bandung, West Java, in
early November 1998, just days before the Special Session of the
People's Consultative Assembly.

The forum's chairman Sujana Syafeii said its initial aim was
to convince people of the need for elections as 42 percent of the
country's adult population at that time did not trust the
government to hold a general election.

On Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 this year, 130 rectors from all over
Indonesia gathered in Bali to discuss the forum's participation
in monitoring the elections.

The rectors, he said, agreed to form the Human Resources
Development Foundation to monitor the planned general election.

After the elections, the foundation will focus on efforts to
develop democracy in the country through research and studies.

Sujana said the Rectors Forum was very committed to deterring
election fraud. All data of the elections will be verified
through the "parallel voters tabulation method", an
internationally acceptable method designed by America's Institute
for Democracy and Election Assistance.

"We'll make a reliable sample as a measure to verify all
voting results after the elections. The sample was made through
simulation," he told The Jakarta Post.

To monitor the elections throughout the country, the forum
needs about 450,000 students. Their recruitment is now underway.

Sujana acknowledged that monitoring the elections would
certainly require a lot of money. The forum, he said, will need
about $6 million to finance its monitoring activities this year.
(edt/bst/yazid)