Preelection apathy

Preelection apathy

Posts were mostly inactive on the first of the 33 days reserved for the registration of voters for the June 7 general election. This phenomenon prevailed not only in many regions, but also in Jakarta, the capital. In Jakarta, many Indonesians appeared confused and did not know what to do or where to register.

If mere confusion were to be the only cause of this apparent apathy, there is not much to worry about. Aside from the fact that there is still time enough to acquaint the public with the registration procedure, the registrars are on a later date to visit possible voters and register those who want to vote.

If, on the other hand, the apparent apathy should be caused by indifference, or by an impression that the general election serves only politicians associated with political parties, then the matter would be most serious indeed.

We do not know whether this problem has been discussed by the General Elections Commission, though we know that, according to media reports, the public regards the commission as being slow in performing its duties. The commission seems to be spending most of its time discussing such problems as whether Cabinet ministers should be allowed to campaign, cars for commission members, salaries, honorariums for attending conferences and whether political parties should be given financial assistance of Rp 1 billion.

The registration of voters has begun. Although public enthusiasm appeared to be lacking on the first day of registration, we hope the situation will improve in the coming days.

-- Republika, Jakarta