Poll watchdogs 'lacking coordination'

JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) blamed on Tuesday a lack of coordination among three leading non- governmental organizations (NGOs) acting as poll watchdogs for its failure to disburse funds allocated for election monitoring.

Poll monitoring advisers at UNDP, Erna Witoelar and Moeslim Abdurrahman, said after a seminar on elections that funds could only be disbursed after the three NGOs settled their disagreements.

With the elections just a few months away, the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), the University Network for Free and Fair Elections (Unfrel) and the Rectors Forum have raised doubts about their ability to monitor the polls due to a lack of coordination and funds.

On Tuesday, the secretary-general of KIPP, Mulyana W. Kusumah, said the UNDP's failure to disburse the funds hampered preparations for its poll monitoring activities. KIPP has asked for some Rp 13 billion.

Citing an example, Erna criticized the three groups for drawing up overlapping programs.

"We want them to discuss the programs together and propose concise budgets to avoid wasting funds," Erna said, adding that the three NGOs were too stubborn to agree on a compromise.

She said the poll monitoring bodies also would have to settle questions of budget accountability.

A reliable source said the three poll watchdogs were still debating areas of operation and training programs for their volunteers.

"They are showing their egos. Each of them insists on training 600,000 volunteers to be deployed during the election. That is not effective," said the source.

The source also said representatives from the three NGOs once argued in front of ambassadors of donor countries.

According to Erna, UNDP has received about US$30 million in grants from various donor countries, with more aid expected in the near future. She said she hoped the funds would be disbursed next week.

Japan will also provide a $30.97 million grant through the UN to help Indonesia hold the June election, a release from the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia said on Tuesday.

All of the funds, pooled by UNDP, are to be channeled to the General Elections Commission and various poll monitoring activities, including voter education programs.

Meanwhile, Moeslim pointed out several unsolved problems among poll watchers, notably the method to count ballots.

"Unfrel wants to use the quick counting method because it is more reliable, but the Rectors Forum prefers parallel tabulation or the sampling method."

Moeslim suggested that the three poll watchdogs agree on a suitable method of vote counting, saying it would raise the validity of their work.

"Of course the UNDP wants this thing to be solved, or they will be overshadowed by foreign poll monitoring groups."

The idea of forming a joint administrative center is also being debated among the local poll watchdogs, according to Moeslim.

Moeslim said local poll monitoring organizations needed to be united to make sure the election was held in a free and fair manner.

In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, five poll monitoring organizations under the South Sulawesi Poll Watchers Forum said they were ready to monitor 16,447 polling booths.

"We estimate at least 35,000 volunteers to be involved here... we are optimistic we will reach our goal," M. Darwis, a member of Unfrel's chapter in South Sulawesi, said. (27/edt)