Poll watchdogs battle limited resources

By Tjahjono Ep.

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Indonesian people, still euphoric over last year's downfall of strongman Soeharto, are bracing for a supposedly democratic general election scheduled for Monday.

The election is expected to result in a legitimate government which can accommodate the interests of numerous political groups. Many want to see a fundamental change in all aspects of life after 32 years of Soeharto's authoritarian rule.

To ensure a fair and democratic election, numerous poll watchdogs have sprung up. World organizations like the United Nations Development Programs (UNDP) and concerned countries have offered financial assistance.

Several foreign monitoring groups have also sent representatives.

Over the past three months or so, the following poll watchdogs have been established: the Rectors Forum, the University Network For Free Elections (Unfrel) and the Society Network for Election Monitoring (JAMPPI). Local activists have also formed their own monitoring groups, such as ones based at Gadjah Mada University and Atmajaya University.

The oldest grouping is the Independent Elections Monitoring Committee, which was formed to monitor the 1997 elections organized by the Soeharto regime.

The hasty formation of the numerous poll watchdogs has raised doubts about their credibility. Skeptics say that some were motivated by the money that international donors offered.

"I'm afraid some activists are busy fighting for money rather than monitoring the election process," says Rofiq, a 27-year-old employee of a private company.

Pratikno, a lecturer at Gadjah Mada University's School of Sociopolitical Science, is one of the observers who doubt the poll monitoring activists' readiness.

He says the numerous monitoring groups do not coordinate regarding the locations they plan to observe. Many have misplaced priorities. They concentrate on Java, while areas prone to rigging are mostly outside of Java.

Some focus on the violations of electoral laws perpetrated by military officers and government officials, but overlook gross violations committed by the contesting political parties.

He points out that another major weakness was the activists' lack of knowledge about electoral laws and the sociopolitical situation of the area they would monitor.

Limited resources

Unfrel has recruited 920 volunteers from various universities in Yogyakarta.

Danang Arafa, coordinator of Unfrel activists in Yogyakarta, said the students were enthusiastic about taking part in the poll monitoring activities.

"Some joined Unfrel because they want to earn money and others want to get experience while they are on vacation," he said.

In Yogyakarta province, Unfrel has concentrated its activities on monitoring campaigning in Bantul, Wonosari, Sleman, Kulon Progo, Gunungkidul and in Yogyakarta mayoralty. It refused to uncover its findings for publication because observations needed to be cross-checked.

Unfrel in Yogyakarta received a Rp 13.8 million budget. The large number of volunteers has forced it to halve the planned Rp 30,000 transport allowance for each volunteer.

It will watch vote casting in 1,050 polling places on election day in Sleman, Kulon Progo and Bantul regencies. It is unable to observe polling in Gunungkidul and Yogyakarta mayoralty due to insufficient volunteers.

Unfrel volunteers will use walkie-talkies. In the villages, and there will be mobile teams in charge of collecting data from polling places to be pooled at headquarters.

So far, Unfrel had established 31 command posts in the city with none so far established at village level, Danang said.

Meanwhile, the Rectors Forum in Yogyakarta claimed it had recruited 5,000 volunteers, but only 2,500 of those had been trained. It planned to recruit another 2,000 volunteers.

Spokesman for the forum, Sabirin, said each volunteer was entitled to accommodation and transport allowances. He declined to divulge the allowance amounts.

During the campaign period, from May 19 through June 4, the forum has mobilized 1,500 volunteers to monitor activities. Sabirin said 50 percent of the volunteers were college students, 30 percent were teachers and 20 percent were people from other backgrounds. It has so far reported 29 cases of violation of campaigning rules across the Yogyakarta province.

With 7,000 volunteers, the Rectors Forum means to monitor every polling place in Yogyakarta. They will report findings to the forum's headquarters in Bandung, which will assess the general election based on findings from across the country.

The KIPP volunteers in Yogyakarta are probably the best prepared. It has conducted 20 training sessions for its 1,500 volunteers of various professional backgrounds. KIPP has forged links with Sanata Dharma Catholic University, which allows its students to perform poll monitoring in place of their regular field service.

Yogyakarta KIPP spokesman Abdur Rozaki said the committee does not promise volunteers any financial rewards because of a lack of funds, but workers do receive a transportation allowance.

As of Monday, KIPP had reported 70 cases concerning violation of campaigning rules, including misuse of places of worship for campaign purposes, village chiefs manipulating data on voters, money politics by the Golkar Party and the People's Sovereignty Party (PDR) and party supporters carrying firearms while campaigning.

It has established command posts in the mayoralty and the four regencies across Yogyakarta province. It has also organized various seminars and TV talk shows on the elections.

Due to the limited number of volunteers, KIPP Yogyakarta will monitor only selected polling places.

According to Rozaki, as of Monday, only 300 of the KIPP volunteers had received accreditation from the Yogyakarta Elections Committee.