Panwaslu praises 'clean' election

Panwaslu praises 'clean' election

The Jakarta Post, Medan/Surabaya/Cirebon/Jakarta

There were no significant violations found during Monday's final
round of the presidential election, the Election Supervisory
Committee (Panwaslu) announced on Tuesday.

The official poll supervisor billed the voting day as "the
cleanest election ever".

A similar conclusion was drawn by two independent poll
watchdogs, the Voters' Education Network for the People (JPPR)
and the Indonesian People's Network for Election Observers
(JAMPPI), which said the election had run freely and fairly in
general despite some minor violations.

"The election was generally cleaner than the first round on
July 5 and the legislative election on April 5 in terms of the
number of violations," Panwaslu deputy chairman Rozy Munir said.

The committee recorded 81 administrative violations and 20
election-related crimes filed by the campaign teams of both
presidential candidates with local Panwaslu offices across the
country.

During the first round of the elections, the committee recorded
92 administrative violations and 44 election-related crimes.

The supervisory committee also recorded 1,176 complaints about
the lack of ballot papers, 633 complaints filed by unregistered
voters, 246 cases of alleged vote-buying and 33 election-related
crimes during the legislative election.

Committee member Didik Supriyanto attributed the decline in
the number of violations to the political elite who had been "too
tired to provoke people".

"People have proven their maturity. They have shown both the
country and the world that the nation is ready for democracy," he
said.

Based on its survey, JPPR concluded voters had exercised their
right to vote peacefully despite minor glitches in election
organization and vote buying allegations.

"As many as 96 percent of our 121 volunteers found no reports
of intimidation against voters," JPPR national coordinator
Gunawan Hidayat told a press conference.

The observers also reported poll committee members gave no
sign of being biased in favor of either candidate.

Meanwhile, JAMPPI stressed no serious infractions took place
on the election day, aside from the sporadic oversight of
balloting procedures by poll workers.

In North Sumatra, the local Panwaslu accused the management of
state plantation company PTPN IV of tampering with ballot papers.

Local Panwaslu head Choking Susilo Sakeh accused company
management of marking about 500 ballot papers in a bid to force
their workers to vote for incumbent President Megawati
Soekarnoputri.

The management had threatened to dismiss and punish the
employees if they chose otherwise, Choking told The Jakarta Post
in Medan.

Local General Elections Commission (KPUD) official Irham Buana
Nasution confirmed the violation, but said a re-run of the poll
would not be conducted. He did not explain the reason for the
decision.

Separately, the local KPUD in Cirebon announced a plan to
question Mayor Subardi for allegedly campaigning for the Megawati
and Hasyim Muzadi ticket. The office found video footage showing
Subardi, who is also a member of Megawati's Indonesia Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P), campaigning for the ticket while on
duty as mayor. Subardi did not take leave from his position as
required by law.

Subardi could not be reached for comment but the head of PDI-P
branch office Suryana denied the allegations.

In Surabaya, the provincial KPUD expects to probe a report of
vote buying involving the campaign team of presidential candidate
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and running-mate Jusuf Kalla.

The report said Susilo team chief Fandi Utomo and secretary
Iqbal handed over Rp 27.1 billion to National Awakening Party
(PKB) provincial chapter head Choirul Anam and Muslim cleric Mas
Subadar.

Choirul and Subadar denied the accusations, saying the
allegation was part of a smear campaign by Susilo's political
opponents.

"We supported (Susilo) not only because of the money," Mas
Subadar, who campaigned against a female presidential candidate,
said.