University educates the poor on elections

University educates the poor on elections

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Gadjah Mada University launched a political education program on
Tuesday for poor urban people in a bid to prevent them from being
manipulated and abused by political parties.

The program is to educate low-income people to become
"critical voters" in the 2004 legislative and presidential
elections, said the deputy dean of the university's School of
Political and Social Sciences, Pratikno.

"This year we will focus on providing political education to
the poor urban community in a bid to strengthen the position of
this particular group of society in the upcoming elections," he
said.

Pratikno, who led the launch ceremony, said the program was
part of his school's planned five-year political education
activities for the 2004-2009 period.

He said that starting next year, the program would target
executives and legislators in order to encourage them to behave
more professionally, increase the check-and-balance mechanism of
their organizations and promote good governance.

Program coordinator Ari Dwipayana said the program was urgent
and deserved the support of relevant agencies, especially ahead
of the 2004 polls, while at the same time both the government and
the General Elections Commission (KPU) were yet to adequately
disseminate information on the elections.

A lack of such information could result in serious problems
during the elections, such as a large number of invalid votes
that in turn would disrupt the overall electoral process, he
said.

Dwipayana said the program also aimed at preventing abuse of
the political rights of voters, including vote-buying, thuggery
and ballot manipulation during the elections.

"The program is relevant to encourage voters to take early
action, so they will be able to avoid violence ahead, during and
after the elections.

"It is also to organize voters in their efforts to create
conflict resolution, so that any political conflict and rivalry
will not have negative social impacts," he said.

Speaking at the same event, program field coordinator Arie
Sudjito said the poor urban community had been chosen because
sociologically it was considered a foot-loose community that did
not have a strong sociocultural base.

As such, he said, the urban poor are vulnerable to any
forceful action and intimidation by other community members of
higher levels, including government officials and those claiming
to be indigenous people.

"And because they are also economically marginalized, this
particular group of community is also vulnerable to money
politics," Sudjito said.

He said that 10 urban areas in Yogyakarta had been selected
for the program. They are Terban, Cokrodirjan, Tungkak,
Keparakan, Pasar Kembang, Gajah Wong, Gendingan, Jogoyudan,
Badran and Kricak.

The areas were selected after the program's organizer received
input from local activists and non-governmental organizations
dealing with urban community affairs, he said.

Another university academic, Eric Hiariej, who is also
involved in the program, said the political education program
would be carried out through workshops involving some 40 student
volunteers.

During the workshops, participants will be assisted to
establish an agenda of action, he said.

Eric said that the program would be evaluated when it finished
in May so that a similar program could be implemented for the
presidential election in July.