Poll monitors begin to unveil their findings

JAKARTA (JP): Despite lacking official accreditation, independent poll monitors both foreign and local have begun announcing findings of irregularities in the preparations for the June 7 general election.

The local University Network for Free And Fair Elections (Unfrel) revealed on Friday six violations related to campaigning, five allegedly committed by Golkar and one by the United Development Party (PPP).

Meanwhile, the Asian Network for Free and Fair Elections (Anfrel) concluded that most Indonesians do not yet understand the voter registration process.

Midian Sirait, a member of the General Elections Commission (KPU), said the accreditation process for poll monitors would begin on April 12 and end on May 31.

In a news conference, student Agung Supriyo of Unfrel said the alleged violations were reported in South Lampung's Natar subdistrict, Madura's Sampang regency, West Java's towns of Ciamis and Cianjur, and Southeastern Sulawesi's capital of Kendari.

In Natar, Golkar reportedly paid villagers to erect Golkar flags in their front yards; in Madura, PPP chairman Hamzah Haz reportedly used state facilities to campaign for the party; in Ciamis, Golkar members reportedly changed their government red license plates to civilian black plates to use state vehicles for party purposes; in Kendari, A.A. Baramuli allegedly used state facilities for Golkar; in Cianjur, a Golkar member was reportedly listed as a member of provincial general election supervisory board.

"All are verified reports," Agung said.

Also present in the news conference was Unfrel's coordinating lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, who said the network would lodge the findings with the General Election Supervisory Committee or with non-governmental legal aid institutes, to be further investigated.

Todung said that the Supreme Court, as the core element of the committee of poll referees, had instructed, through a March 17 circular, district courts to set up "special councils" to try alleged violations of election law.

"Electoral violations will get special priority," he said.

He also said Unfrel would announce the network's findings through the media every week.

Another Unfrel activist, Berlian Indriansyah Idris, said as many as 24 provinces now have Unfrel secretariats.

Berlian said Unfrel would leave East Timor, Maluku and East Kalimantan provinces uncovered because of limited time for preparations. Bloody communal clashes are occurring in East Timor and Maluku, raising concerns about the viability of holding polls there.

Asked about coordination with other poll watchers so as to avoid overlapping coverage of the possibly more than 251,000 polling booths, Berlian said Unfrel meets routinely with the Indonesian Rectors' Forum and the Independent Elections Monitoring Committee (KIPP).

Also in the news conference, Unfrel announced a training program for monitors scheduled for April 12 trough April 14.

Berlian expressed optimism the network could recruit as many as 150,000 volunteers.

Meanwhile, Anfrel -- a Forum Asia initiative made up of elections monitoring and human rights organizations in the Asia Pacific region -- announced the results of its observations conducted recently with KIPP, the Independent Journalists Association (AJI) and the Asian Network for Democracy in Indonesia (ANDI).

A study in five cities by a team of 15 observers led by Thailand's former military commander, Gen. (ret) Saiyud Kerdphol, found that most people were still "confused" about the voter registration process and also which parties they would vote for.

The observers -- from Thailand, Myanmar, Canada, Cambodia, Nepal, Japan and the Philippines -- observed from April 4 through April 8 the cities of Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Medan and Yogyakarta.

"People living in rural areas are still confused about which parties to vote for. Many don't even know there are now 48 contestants," Saiyud told a news conference.

In Medan, Anfrel ran a trial ballot with five people, all of them claiming to be supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan). Only two chose the right party symbol on the ballot paper. The other three picked similar symbols depicting a bull's head, but belonging to different parties. (edt/aan)