Observers may reduce possible disputes: Expert

Kurniawan Hari and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta

The role of observers, be they Indonesians or foreigners, is vital for the credibility of the country's first direct presidential election, an analyst says.

Azyumardi Azra of the Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic University said on Sunday that the election monitoring would help reduce potential electoral disputes.

"They must not only monitor the people who cast their votes but also watch the vote counting and the tabulation," Azyumardi said at a discussion here on Sunday.

He suggested that observers also monitor the tabulation from each polling station from the village level, to the district and regency level.

Azyumardi said the transfer of data was prone to manipulation.

If the election loses credibility, he said, it would only open the way for certain groups to disturb the growing democracy.

Azyumardi called on the political elite to accept the outcome of the presidential election. "People at the grass roots will create anarchy if the elite provokes them," he said.

Dozens of independent observer organizations, including foreign institutions, have been accredited by the General Elections Commission (KPU) to monitor the July 5 election.

Only recently the European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) assigned over 100 observers to join their colleagues deployed in March.

Mission chief Glyn Ford said that they had been monitoring the preparations and would monitor the whole process, from the vote- casting to the vote counting.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, head of the Carter Center election watchdog, said on Saturday that vote-buying was rampant among election committee members in the April election.

The Carter Center will place observers in polling stations to monitor Monday's election.

According to Carter, the center will make two reports -- one for the Indonesian government and the other for the international community.

The Constitutional Court said that candidates were expected to lodge complaints involving electoral disputes.

"It's about presidential and vice presidential seats. Although all parties involved have tried to be transparent, disputes are inevitable," Constitutional Court Chairman Jimly Asshiddiqie said recently.

He said the court would face many challenges in settling the cases as it was different from the June 5 legislative election.

"We have told the campaign teams in Jakarta to compile complaints and prepare witnesses from across the country. It is not easy because the witnesses are not from political parties but from the campaign success teams," Jimly said.

He also explained that the court might find difficulties in examining complaints and evidence.

"We must examine millions of votes from across the country. It's not easy to check," Jimly said.

However, he asserted that the court could settle the cases within 14 days for the first round and a week for the second round.