Many balk at working the polls in Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): Escalating intimidation by groups of people seeking to boycott the June 7 general election in Aceh has forced residents to refuse to be poll workers, a local official said on Tuesday.

The revelation came amid growing discussions about the possibility the elections might be delayed in several trouble spots including Aceh, as Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto hinted also on Tuesday.

Election authorities both in the province and in Jakarta have been considering a poll delay in the province in response to growing violence between the military and alleged members of the Free Aceh separatist movement.

"At least in two regencies, Pidie and North Aceh, people have been refusing to become poll workers," head of Aceh Elections Committee Ahmad Farhan Hamid told The Jakarta Post from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh by phone.

Calls for a referendum on self-determination and an election boycott have been the strongest in Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh.

The regencies of Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh had been the worst affected by a decade of anti-rebel operations during which the military was accused of widespread human rights abuses.

At least 15 people, including 11 military and police personnel, were killed in two separate outbreaks of violence in North Aceh and West Aceh in the past week.

Ahmad said there would be about 700 and 1,500 polling stations in Pidie and North Aceh respectively where at least seven people were needed for each station.

"Just imagine how many people we have to recruit. We have never faced anything like this before," Ahmad said.

He said the local elections committee would meet with 38 political parties campaigning in the two regencies later in the week to discuss the matter.

Reports said political parties have skipped campaigning in the province for fear of attack against their activists.

At least three cars belonging to political parties and an office of the ruling Golkar party in the North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe had been attacked and set on fire.

Separately, Wiranto told reporters in the TNI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Java, that polling was due to go ahead on the scheduled date across the whole country.

"But for several regions, and not only in Aceh, if from a security viewpoint holding a free and fair election is (dangerous), then the elections could be delayed for some time, up to one month," he said.

Wiranto said a delay might be needed in only three of the 12 regencies in the province.

Wiranto's statement was different from his remarks on Monday that the election would proceed as cheduled in Aceh.

Hasballah M. Saad, deputy chairman of the National Elections Commission, said the decision on whether the polls will be delayed in Aceh would be made on June 6.

"If on June 6 the situation is still worrisome and the people do not feel safe to vote we will decide to delay the vote," he said on the private SCTV television.

"The election commission deems it unethical to conduct a vote when the people are threatened," he said.

Commenting on separatist calls in Aceh, Wiranto said they had been made by the Free Aceh movement.

"But we are in the basin of the republic and no one in the republic has the right to declare independence from the country they love," Wiranto said.

He pledged stern action against separatists, whom he charged had attacked government institutions and destroyed buildings where voting would take place.

"So, we must make sure their efforts to disturb the process of elections will not be tolerated... to ensure that the poll will go on in Aceh and everywhere else," he added.

Wiranto also defended the military decision to send more anti- riot troops to Aceh ahead of the elections.

"Don't think the addition of troops to any province constitutes an abuse by the military or the police, it is merely obeying a call of duty to ensure safety in that region for the people's interest," he added.

Students and rights activists have been demanding the military pull out from Aceh. They said the military presence in the province has only created a climate of fear.

Meanwhile, Antara reported from Banda Aceh capital city that dozens of students staged a demonstration outside Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud's office expressing their rejection of the poll.

To the governor, the students said the elections should not be held because of the worsening security condition in the province. Before dispersing peacefully, the students also demanded the military pull out from Aceh. (byg/rms)