KPU to disburse funds to regions next Tuesday
Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The General Elections Commission (KPU) promised on Tuesday to begin disbursing funds for the general election to all of the country's provinces, regencies and municipalities by next Monday.
KPU secretary Safder Yusaac said on Tuesday that Rp 98.46 billion (US$11.06 million) had been channeled to the KPU from the state budget. The money will be used to finance the operations of the regional elections commissions or KPUDs.
"The amount (that will be disbursed) varies for each province, regency and municipality according to size, population and access to transportation," he said.
He said that if the money disbursed by the KPU proved insufficient to finance the operations of a KPUD, the additional money would have to come from the budget of the concerned region.
"For example, we have budgeted enough money so each province can purchase one operational car and two operational motorcycles.
"If a province needs an additional car, the money will have to come from the regional budget," he said.
Yusaac said the commission also would enclose directives on regulating the fund disbursement.
According to the KPU, the disbursed funds will cover the salary of KPUD staff members, equipment and utility costs, transportation and other expenses.
Many regional administrations had complained that they had yet to receive funding for the KPUDs, saying that they were being forced to use their regional budgets to cover the operational costs of the commissions.
"There is a good possibility that the funds for the regional KPUDs will not be sufficient to cover all of the operational costs. Therefore, we will ask the regional administrations to use their budgets to complement the state budget," Yusaac said.
East Java is due to receive the most money from the KPU with Rp 7.73 billion, followed by Central Java with Rp 7.11 billion and Papua with Rp 6.61 billion.
The provinces that will receive the least amount of money are Yogyakarta with Rp 1.25 billion, Gorontalo with Rp 1.32 billion and Jakarta with Rp 1.34 billion.
The KPU is preparing to organize Indonesia's first ever direct elections, with the general election on April 5, 2004, followed by the two-phased presidential election between June and August of the same year.
In other matters, the KPU began registering candidates for a supervisory committee on Tuesday, with 190 people displaying an interest in joining the committee.
"From that number, some 90 people are community members, 86 are academics and 14 are members of the press," said Aminsyah, a registration official.
The supervisory committee will monitor the general election during every step of the process, including the ballot counting.
The KPU will appoint nine people to the central supervisory committee. The appointees will be police officers, attorneys, academics, journalists and community members.
To be appointed to the supervisory committee a person must be at least 27 years old, understand the mechanisms of the general election and not be a member of any political party.
The KPU plans to screen and elect members of the supervisory committee at the central level on April 19, the provincial level on May 13, the regency and municipal level on June 5, and the district level on June 20.
Among those who have registered as candidates for the supervisory committee are political analysts Fachri Ali and Laode Ida, and former KPU member Rasyidi.