Voter registrars unready on 1st day

Voter registrars unready on 1st day

JAKARTA (JP): Unprepared officers marred the first day of
voter registration nationwide on Monday, despite some people's
enthusiasm to sign up for the June 7 general election.

Many local registrars at the subdistrict level, called
Subdistrict Polling Committee (PPS), in Java, West Sumatra, South
Kalimantan and Sulawesi contacted by The Jakarta Post said
registration forms and directives were not yet available.

In some areas like West Sumatra, West Java, East Java and East
Timor, many subdistricts do not have polling committees set up
yet.

Most registrars observed also admitted to a lack of knowledge
on how to proceed with registrations, a totally new way of voter
registration from the old system applied over the past 30 years.

Under the new electoral law, registration is done on a
voluntary basis. In the past, people were mobilized, in many
instances even forced, to vote.

Out of the country's 210 million population, an approximate
130 million people are eligible to vote this year, with 6.5
million of them first-time voters.

Thousands of residents in Padang, West Sumatra, returned home
unregistered because the polling officers they visited told them
they were not ready to do business.

"How can we accept any registrations, we are not even certain
yet on where we should carry out our job, let alone ways to
register," Belakang Olo Padang subdistrict head, M. Sidik, said.

Padang Utara district's secretary Zainal Abidin Azhari also
said he was confused.

"I have contacted the Provincial Elections Committee (PPD I)
and the provincial administration's officials in charge of
sociopolitical affairs, but they said they also were still
waiting for direction from Jakarta," he said.

The chairman of West Sumatra's PPD I, Adi Bermasa, said the
committee had yet to set up District Polling Committees (PPKs) in
the province.

"We just received some important documents some hours ago. It
would be impractical for us to carry out any registrations
today," he said.

It was the same story in Yogyakarta.

While unlike in Padang where people were enthusiastic to
register, people in this sultanate town seemed uneager to do so.
But registrars complained about the same matter.

"I and my friends until today still don't know exactly how to
proceed with the new system of voter registration," said
Noorkahfi, chairman of a PPS in Yogyakarta's village of Depok.

The chairman of the Yogyakarta supervisory committee, Yusuf,
told the Post that he had received complaints from PPS of various
subdistricts in Yogyakarta over the unavailability of forms.

It was similar in Ujungpandang, the capital of South Sulawesi.

Residents in Mamajang, Makassar and Panakukang who visited the
local subdistrict offices seemingly wanted to find out how to
register and where they should vote in June.

But no officers in charge of registration were available to
answer their inquiries.

The chairman of South Sulawesi's PPD I, Muhammad Yunus Tekeng,
admitted that officers had yet to be appointed to do the job.

He said all they had done so far was set up elections
committees at the regency level (PPD II), a body which
establishes PPSs and PPKs.

In Surabaya, thousands of residents were dumbfounded to find
no PPSs set up when they went to their subdistrict offices.

"Why, how could this be? They said voter registration begins
today. Even polling committees have not been set up. Why is
this?" Margono said at the Tambaksari subdistrict office. He
found he was unable to register.

Commenting on the development, East Java Governor Imam Utomo
was confident that elections in the province would proceed on
schedule.

"All East Java regions are ready for the general election," he
said.

In West Java's capital of Bandung, voter registration was also
delayed.

The chairman of West Java's PPD I, Syahrir Ismail, said not
all regency PPDs had yet to establish PPSs in their regions.

"Voter registration process begins today. Only four regencies
are ready," he said without elaborating.

The province has 26 regencies with an expected PPK to number
529, and PPS 7,555. There are a total of 26.7 million eligible
voters in the province, the country's largest electoral province.
It is followed by East Java and Central Java.

A number of people were politely asked to go home by
registration officers, saying that they had no registration
forms, stamps and or even enough staff, to start working.

Even neighborhood chiefs at Pegangsaan subdistrict in Central
Jakarta said they did not know that voter registration kicked off
on Monday.

They cited the absence of information about the schedule.

One of the chiefs, Ghozali, said: "I really don't know when
the voter registration will start. The subdistrict head only
asked me to get ready."

Head of the Jakarta Provincial Elections Committee Djafar
Badjeber attributed the poor preparation to the late dispatch of
books on technical guidelines by the General Elections
Commission.

About 5.8 million out of 9.7 million residents of Jakarta are
eligible to vote.

Chairman of the National Elections Committee (PPI) Jacob
Tobing acknowledged that some regions would see delayed voter
registration due to the belated arrival of registration
directives.

"(But) PPI will work to the maximum so that all Indonesians
will be able to join the 1999 elections," he said in Jakarta.
(28/30/43/44/ind/nur/edt/aan)