Voter registration will not run smoothly in conflict areas

Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) is planning for flexibility in the time frame of the national census and the voter registration process in conflict-torn areas, an official says.

Agus Suherman, chief of the national census and the voter registration process at BPS, said that in the province of Aceh, for example, the event could turn political as many people might refuse to participate, slowing down the process.

"We are well aware that people may be reluctant to participate in the demographic data gathering, as they might be afraid of the possible consequences. This has occurred in the past, when people in Maluku and Papua refused to register.

"Therefore, we have agreed with the General Elections Commission (KPU) to review the time frame of the census and the voter registration process," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Agus added that BPS would try and persuade citizens in the conflict areas of Aceh, Papua, Maluku and Poso in Central Sulawesi to take part in the registration.

The bureau also plans to ask for assistance from the office of the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs to ensure the safety of each and every BPS field worker as they fulfill their duties in the conflict areas.

"In Aceh, we will also request the assistance of the Joint Security Council," he said.

BPS, representing the KPU, is in charge of conducting the national census and voter registration process within this month.

The compiled data from the census and the registration will be used by the KPU as a single database for the 2004 elections.

Indonesia will have its first direct legislative election on April 5, 2004, followed by the direct presidential election, which looks to take place over two stages as no party is likely to win an outright majority of votes. The government has proposed that the first stage of the presidential election be held on July 5.

Approximately 230,000 field officials are conducting the census and registration across the country. An estimated 130 million people are expected to turn up for the elections.

According to BPS data, the number of voters in Aceh has reached 1.73 million, or 40 percent of the total population, while Papua has 1.69 million voters, Maluku 1.14 million and Central Sulawesi 2.01 million.

Agus also said that the bureau expected to find several obstacles in conducting the census and registration in the regency of Belu, East Nusa Tenggara, which had suffered from floods and landslides that had claimed 52 lives thus far.

"We have not started the voter registration process in East Nusa Tenggara, especially in the areas hit by natural disasters. We realize that the census and the registration are not on their list of priorities at the moment. We will give them more time (to recover) before commencing with our tasks," he said.