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 Goenawan, however, is no longer active in the committee, making Mulyana its sole pilot.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)