Limited funds may delay Panwaslu inauguration
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Due to financial constraints, the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) may not be able to meet the deadline to inaugurate all election supervisory committees at the regency and district levels, says a Panwaslu member.
Provincial Panwaslu offices that were tasked with establishing branch offices at the regency and district levels, have not received any funding so that none of their regency or district offices were able to commence their daily activities, said Saut Hamonangan Sirait.
Thirty provincial Panwaslu, each with five members, were established and inaugurated in Jakarta last week.
The General Election Commission (KPU) has set June 30 as the deadline for each provincial Panwaslu to establish its regency- and district-level offices and staff.
Saut, who is also deputy chairman of Panwaslu, said the KPU had actually allocated Rp 50 million (US$6,097) to Rp 70 million ($8,536) as operational funds for each provincial office.
"The operational funds have already been transferred to the bank accounts of KPU's provincial branches (KPUDs), but the funds cannot be disbursed until the KPU appoints KPUD treasurers to disburse the operational funds to provincial Panwaslu," he explained.
It is not clear as to when the KPU would recruit KPUD treasurers.
Panwaslu is a separate entity from the KPU, but the latter, the sole organizer of the 2004 general elections, is authorized under the General Elections Law to manage Panwaslu's budget.
Even if the operational funds are finally disbursed, the provincial Panwaslu will still face a tough task ahead.
Establishing Panwaslu offices in regencies and districts is a daunting task for the 30 KPUDs because of financial constraints. In comparison, Panwaslu will need much more time and funds to establish branch offices in 438 regencies/mayoralties and 5,059 districts.
"The amount of funds set aside by the KPU may not be sufficient for provincial Panwaslu to carry out their jobs successfully. However, some rich provincial administrations understand the problems we are facing, and they have been eager to help us," said Saut.
The North Sumatra administration, for example, had raised Rp 400 million to help its provincial Panwaslu complete the task of establishing branch offices in its regencies and districts, he said.
But the lack of funds for provincial Panwaslu will surely impede poor provincial administrations in carrying out their tasks, he added.
Saut said the failure to meet the deadline could disrupt and lower the Panwaslu's performance in supervising the preparations leading up to the general election, scheduled for April 5, 2004.
Worse, he said, the damage had actually already been done, because Panwaslu had failed to supervise the recent voter's registration.