Misuses of state facility to rise: Observer

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Misuses of state facilities are likely to be the most common election violations, according to the Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) and the Elections Advocacy Analysis Institute (LKAP).

LKAP director Eko Prasojo said on Tuesday that misuses of state facilities would account for around 40 percent of violations in the upcoming elections, compared to 5.5 percent in the 1999 elections.

"Instances in which state facilities are improperly used are part of the efforts of parties currently in power to maintain power," he said.

Indonesia will hold its general election on April 5, with the campaign period running from March 11 until April 1. A total of 24 political parties will contest the general election. The presidential election is scheduled for July 5, with a possible runoff on Sept. 20.

Deputy chairman of Panwaslu Saut H. Sirait said that LKAP had conducted a study of possible election violations at the request of Panwaslu.

Eko claimed that political parties that could potentially misuse state facilities during the campaign period included the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and Golkar.

"Misuses of state facilities would be in line with the total votes obtained by political parties in the 1999 elections," he said.

In the 1999 elections, PDI-P obtained the most votes, followed by Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN), and the Crescent Star Party (PBB).

According to Eko, state officials that are also executives of political parties would use several methods to misuse state facilities for their own interests.

Among those methods were: making important decisions that benefited their political parties, using state facilities directly, such as official cars, treating other parties unfairly, and using official visits to other regions for campaign purposes.

Separately, the Coalition against Violence toward Journalists (KAKTW) issued a statement on Tuesday that violence during the elections must be avoided at all costs.