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.