KPU wants more 'dodgy' ink for presidential election
KPU wants more 'dodgy' ink for presidential election
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta
The General Elections Commission (KPU) plans to procure indelible
ink for the July 5 presidential election, despite the recent
discovery that the ink used for the legislative election last
month contained a poisonous substance.
In a proposal letter sent to KPU regional chapters, the ink
would be procured by the KPU along with ballot papers. The letter
is supposed to be signed by the KPU deputy secretary-general
Sussongko Suhardjo.
The timetable for the ink procurement remains undecided.
For the April legislative election, most of the indelible ink
was imported from India; some produced locally.
An investigation by the Indonesian Procurement Watch (IPW)
revealed that people in Serpong, Banten had suffered skin
infections after using ink left-over from the general election
for temporary tattoos.
The ink also contained a substance that could trigger cancer,
according to the IPW's report.
IPW executive Dadang Budiana said the watchdog would seek
clarification from the KPU over the ink procurement.
"We should be sure that skin contact with the ink is safe,"
Dadang said on Tuesday.
Election result forms and envelopes would be procured by
regional KPUDs, but the commission would reuse ballot boxes,
ballot booths and needles to punch ballot papers used in the
legislative election.
The KPU has decided there will be no tender for the goods
procurement for the presidential election. Consequently, all nine
KPU members will not be involved in committees to provide
logistics for the July election.
"This will help KPU members focus on other preparations for
the presidential election," KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti
said.
Ramlan also said the KPU would need about 1,600 more tons of
plain paper for the presidential election, in addition to 1,400
tons stored in its warehouses.
The KPU has estimated that over 150 million people are
eligible to vote in the presidential election.
Sussongko said the KPU would appoint several printing firms to
print the ballot papers. The firms must start printing on May 26,
complete the job by June 6, and deliver the papers to village
election committees (PPS) by June 25.
At present, he said, the KPU was still assessing the
performance of companies which printed ballot papers for the
legislative election as a basis to appoint firms qualifying for
the next ballot paper printing job.
According to him, the KPU would face a tough challenge in
fulfilling the 20-day target to distribute ballot papers for the
presidential election. It took the KPU 40 days to distribute
ballot papers for the legislative election on April 5.
Ramlan said the size of the ballot papers for the presidential
election would equal one fourth of those of the legislative
election.
He added the KPU had also decided not to require a high
security standard for ballot papers for the presidential election
due to fears that it would cost too much.
"We consider the signatures of the working committees for
polling stations a sufficient security measure," he said.