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)