Regional direct elections to move ahead

Regional direct elections to move ahead

The Jakarta Post, Padang/Indramayu/Riau Islands/Jambi

The direct election of regional heads should go ahead as planned,
although funding issues and the absence of clear guidelines are
still problems that need attention.

In Padang, the province's General Elections Committee has
proposed simultaneous elections for the West Sumatra governor and
some regents and mayors in June to cut down on costs, time and
possible election fraud.

The committee's head, Mufti Syarfie, said on Tuesday that
apart from elections for the governor, the region would also hold
direct elections for 10 mayors and regents, whose office terms
end this year.

They are the Bukittinggi and Solok mayoralties and the
Padangpariaman, Pasaman, Solok, Agam, Limapuluh Kota, Solok
Selatan, Pasaman Barat and Damasraya regencies.

"From the 10 regents and mayors, there are some of them whose
office terms end in August. But following the Minister of Home
Affairs (M. Ma'ruf) schedule to hold direct election of region
heads in June 2005, we'll ask them to hold the election
simultaneously in June," Mufti said.

He said holding simultaneous elections for the governor,
mayors and regents would cut costs up to Rp 40 billion (US$4.3
million), save preparation time, and prevent cheating -- as a
simultaneous election would minimize the possibility of
candidates mobilizing voters and sending them to vote twice in
different polling stations.

The election committee, he said, had proposed a budget of Rp
83 billion for the election in the West Sumatra provincial budget
for this year and the plan for simultaneous elections to the
provincial council.

"But until now, there has been no response from the provincial
council and the governor. I hope we will be called to explain our
plans," he said.

In the West Java town of Indramayu, the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will hold a convention to select
candidates for regency elections in June.

Indramayu is set to be first town in West Java to hold a
direct election. Along with Indramayu, four other electorates --
the Depok mayoralty and the Bandung, Karawang and Sukabumi
regencies -- will also hold direct elections this year.

PDI-P Indramayu branch chairman Hermanto said the convention
would begin in late February.

He said so far there were five candidates nominated for the
position of regent -- including the incumbent, Irianto MS
Syafiuddin, former House of Representatives legislator Achmad
Djahidin and three local businesspeople.

Names for deputy regent included current deputy regent Dedi
Wahidi, local businesswoman Eva Latifah and three other party
members.

West Java Regental Administration Association chairman Dedi
Supardi called for the provincial and central governments to
financially assist the regional elections.

Most of the regencies and mayoralties in West Java had
declared they could not finance the direct election of regional
heads, he said.

"It's better if the direct election is directly financed
through the state budget and the West Java provincial budget,"
Dedi said, adding that at least Rp 20 billion was needed for each
election. The Indramayu regency alone needed Rp 22 billion while
Bandung needed Rp 20 billion, he said.

In the Riau Islands province, the direct election of its
governor would be held in June, at the same time as the elections
of the Lingga and Riau Islands regents.

Surya Makmur Nasution, a member of the province's General
Elections Committee, said on Monday the committee had made some
preparations for the election, including proposing a Rp 40
billion fund to hold the direct election of the governor.

"We're also waiting for a central government decree on the
election of regional heads that is expected to be issued this
month along with technical guidelines," Surya said.

In Jambi, a student group, the Coalition of Students for
Jambi's Future, rejected some groups' politicking on ethnic lines
in voicing their support for governor candidate Zulkifli Nurdin.

The move to divisive race-based politics by the political
elite was a further indication of their willingness to use any
means to selfishly hold onto power, the coalition's spokesman
Piet Haryadi said on Tuesday.