Tight schedule awaits provincial KPUD members

Tight schedule awaits provincial KPUD members

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A tight schedule awaits the 150 members of the provincial-level
Regional General Elections Commission (KPUD), who were sworn in
on Saturday to organize the upcoming general elections.

Indonesia will hold its first direct general elections next
year, with the legislative election slated for April 5 and the
presidential election between June and August.

KPU chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin said that although voter
registration had not fulfilled the target, as the deadline had
already passed, the elections would go on as scheduled.

"Some provincial KPUDs will meet with difficulties in
conducting their work; but the process must go on," Nazaruddin
told commission members.

He was referring to certain provinces that are now facing
security issues.

The newly installed provincial KPUD members come from 30
provinces across the country, and underwent a three-day training
in Jakarta before they were sworn in.

A KPUD member from Central Java said he doubted the
preparations for the elections would run smoothly, due to the
tight schedule.

"Each province faces different challenges. I don't think all
of us could complete the preparations on time," said the KPUD
member, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Hasballah, a KPUD member from Aceh, concurred, saying that the
war now underway in the province would make it very difficult for
him and his colleagues to do their jobs.

"I'm afraid almost no one from the regencies in Aceh will turn
up for the election," he said, predicting that not all regencies
would manage to organize the elections.

Another obstacle faced by the Aceh KPUD is that residents from
several areas in the province do not possess identity cards,
which some residents claim were seized by the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) separatist rebels.

Voter registration in Aceh has so far covered only 60 percent
of the province's population of 4.2 million, lower than the
national target, which has been set at 98 percent.

Each KPUD comprises five members, who, like the General
Elections Commission (KPU) members, are nonpartisan.

The main duty of each provincial KPUD is to organize the
upcoming legislative elections in 2004 at the provincial level
and to select members of KPUDs at the municipality and regency
levels.

The provincial KPUDs will also have to verify the existence of
political parties' regional chapters in order to determine their
eligibility for the 2004 elections.

Under the Political Party Law, each party must have offices in
50 percent of the country's provinces, regencies and
municipalities.