The 2004 election

The 2004 election

I have participated in several general elections before the
upcoming elections and as far as I can remember everything went
smoothly and there was not many problems, even during the
preparations. So it is surprising for me that so many problems
popped up this time, some of which are difficult to understand.

The structure of the government is the same only the officials
are different, the increase in the population is not that much,
but perhaps the increase in the number of political parties and
the interpretation of democracy with freedom of expression
attached to it and the difficult economic situation may be part
of the reason. This is the very first time the elections will be
participated by so many political organizations led by so many
newcomers. But fortunately the political parties have pledged to
avoid violence especially during the campaign period.

One thing is still troubling me and may disrupt the general
election, and that is the "administrative" side, the provision of
the necessary materials for the elections such as ballot papers,
election boxes and other material vital for the election. We have
heard that boxes are not ready, the distribution of those
materials is still not smooth and the election committee has
asked the army to help in the distribution, especially in the
remote areas.

The Center for Electoral Reform (CETRO) has warned of a delay
in the elections in some areas after the General Elections
Commission (KPU) set a March 30 deadline for ballot papers to
reach polling stations, five days behind the initial schedule.

People should be timely informed of what they have to do when
it is election time. Another question mark is the campaigning. If
political parties start "attacking" each other, then we might
have trouble. But I am sure that this has already been considered
and the political parties will heed the appeal from the military
commander not to use military attributes and not let their task
force members become violent.

Let us hope for the best and show to the world that our nation
is politically mature and that in this reform era we can do
better than the New Order.

SOEGIH ARTO
Jakarta