Witnesses ready to oversee ballot-counting process

Fabiola Desy Unidjadja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta

Having learned from disputes in the legislative election that were mostly the result of lax control over ballot counting, campaign teams have all prepared witnesses who will oversee polling stations during the July 5 poll and vote-counting process.

With just 10 days to go, the campaign team for each ticket has been recruiting witnesses, which will cost some Rp 150 billion (US$16 million) per party.

The presence of witnesses from each of the successful teams is mandatory to avoid possible electoral disputes.

An Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) official told The Jakarta Post recently the party would have five witnesses at each of a total 581,393 polling stations across the country.

"They will witness the ballot counting in shifts. We shall pay Rp 50,000 to each person in compensation," said the official, whose party has nominated Megawati Soekarnoputri and Hasyim Muzadi as respectively its presidential and vice presidential candidates.

During the April 5 legislative election, most of the 24 contending political parties were short of witnesses to monitor the ballot count, which could last 24 hours, and secure copies of the official result.

Consequently, the Constitutional Court rejected most of a total of 273 complaints filed by the parties due to lack of evidence.

Aulia Rahman, the coordinator of the campaign team for presidential candidate Wiranto and running mate Solahuddin Wahid, said his party would deploy seven witnesses at each polling station.

"We must ensure that the ballot count runs well and we'll secure all necessary documentation in the event of possible disputes," he told the Post after a meeting with the Constitutional Court on Friday.

Aulia did not say how much would be paid to such witnesses, but observed, "It's a necessity when running a political machine".

"Most of the witnesses will be from Golkar, but some are from the National Awakening Party (PKB) as our partner. We are briefing the witnesses about the procedures in the field and what documents they must get hold of," he said.

The campaign team of presidential candidate Amien Rais and running mate Siswono Yudohusodo said that it would post two witnesses only at each station.

"That's sufficient. They're not supposed to leave the scene before the count is over," team member Patrialis Akbar said.

The campaign teams of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla and Hamzah Haz-Agum Gumelar tickets said they had witnesses ready.

Constitutional Court Chairman Jimly Asshiddiqie warned the campaign teams to prepare their witnesses well because he predicted that supporters of the candidates would be "more emotional" in this the first direct presidential election in the country.

"Our verdict is final and binding. There will be one winner only. A successful complaint from the team of one ticket might annul the victory of another," he said.