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