Sohe supporters clash with police

By Khairul Saleh
Source : The Jakarta Post

At least a dozen police officers and four supporters of losing gubernatorial candidates Syahrial Oesman and Helmy Yahya (Sohe) were injured during a clash outside the South Sumatra General Elections Commission (KPUD) office Tuesday.

The crowd was made up of members of political parties and mass organizations supporting the losing pair. They demanded the KPUD postpone vote counting and the plenary session and immediately follow up on reports of violations across the province.

The protesters attempted to push their way into the office but were held back by police. They later threw rocks and sticks at police, injuring several of them.

Protest coordinator Suparman Romans was unable to meet with KPUD members because they were all at Palembang City Police headquarters to discuss the upcoming vote count.

The KPUD is expected to move the vote counting forward to Tuesday, from Sept. 14, as originally scheduled.

However, the count was canceled because of the rally at the KPUD.

Suparman told the protesters to disperse after the Palembang City Police and South Sumatra Provincial Police recommended the KPUD postpone the vote counting and plenary session.

"The postponement aims to prevent clashes on a larger scale," Palembang City Police chief Sr. Comr. Lucky Hermawan said.

Tuesday's protest was the second by Sohe supporters. A day earlier, they also demonstrated outside the KPUD office demanding votes be counted immediately.

The protesters are claiming there were election violations and vote rigging in Musi Banyuasin regency and are demanding the KPUD recount votes in the regency, especially in Sungai Lilin, Bayung Lencir and Lalan districts, where they strongly believe vote rigging occurred. According to KPUD data, only eight regencies and municipalities in the province have handed over their tally results. They are Lubuk Linggau, Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU), South OKU, Lahat, Musi Banyuasin, Musi Rawas, Banyuasin and Palembang.

Ogan Komering Ilir, Ogan Ilir, East OKU, Muara Enim, Pagaralam and Prabumulih submitted their results later in the day but the provincial KPUD has yet to count the votes from these regions.

The KPUD data show the Alex Noerdin and Eddy Yusuf (Aldy) pair, nominated by the Golkar Party, National Mandate Party, Reform Star Party, Bung Karno Nationalist Party and Democratic Party, have taken the lead with 1,866,390 votes (51.4 percent), followed by the Sohe pair, nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, Justice Prosperity Party, United Development Party and dozens of other minor parties with 1,764,373 votes, or 48.6 percent.

Quick counts conducted by the Indonesian Survey Network showed the Aldy pair garnering 51.2 percent of votes and the Sohe pair with 48.8 percent.

Quick counts confuse S. Sumatra voters

By Khairul Saleh
Source : The Jakarta Post

South Sumatrans have been left confused by different quick count results, with each institution claiming victory for its own candidate and the public having limited access to reliable information.

A full-page advertisement in the local print media congratulated the team of Syahrial Oesman and Helmi Yahya (SOHE) for winning 51.11 percent of votes over Alex Noerdin and Eddy Yusuf (ALDY), with only 49.13 percent of votes.

The advertisement was quoting the quick count result from the Policy and Strategic Development Research Center (Puskaptis), SOHE's campaign adviser.

Another one-page, full-color advertisement printed the quick count results from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) and the Indonesian Survey Circle, which both claimed the victory of ALDY over SOHE.

ALDY, according to the advertisement, won 51.22 percent of votes, while SOHE won only 48.78 percent of votes.

The conflicting claims had members of the public turning to whatever information sources were available in an attempt to work out what was really going on with the tallies.

Newspaper vendor Hamdani in Palembang said his 30 copies of newspapers had sold out quickly everyday since the election on Thursday.

"Most of my customers buy the papers for the count results," said the 24-year-old, adding that whatever paper he had for sale always sold out.

"I really wonder about who has exactly won the election. Is it Alex Noerdin or Syahrial Oesman? All have claimed victory," a confused Ujang, 36, of KM 5, Palembang, said Sunday.

Meanwhile, congratulatory bouquets to celebrate victory have been arriving at the residences of both Syahrial and Alex since Thursday evening.

In response to the conflicting counts, Alex asked his constituents to stay calm while waiting for the South Sumatra Regional Election Committee's (KPUD) official tally. He also reminded his supporters not to parade on the streets.

"It's really unnecessary," Alex said.

The KPUD plans to accelerate the central vote recount, moving it forward from its previously scheduled date of September 12-16 to September 8-12. It thus hopes to be able to announce the final election result this Friday.

"We have faxed the letter to the 15 regency/municipal KPUD offices across South Sumatra regarding the accelerated vote counting," Helmi Ibrahim of the South Sumatra KPUD legal division said.

Alex Noerdin likely to win South Sumatra election

By Khairul Saleh
Source : The Jakarta Post

Golkar Party-nominated South Sumatra gubernatorial candidate Alex Noerdin and his running mate Eddy Yusuf, popularly known as ALDY, look likely to win the first ever direct gubernatorial election in the province.

Noted survey institutes the Indonesian Survey Circle and Public Issue Network (LSI-JIP) and the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) conducted quick count polls immediately after the election on Thursday, revealing ALDY had a slight lead over rivals Syahrial Oesman and Helmy Yahya, known as SOHE.

The LSI-JIP and the LSI said ALDY won the election with 51.22 percent and 51.20 percent of votes respectively, with SOHE taking in 48.78 percent and 48.80 percent of votes respectively.

"It's a very tight race. This never happened in earlier counts," Setia Dharma of the LSI-JIP said, adding voter turnout was 73.85 percent.

More than 5 million eligible voters cast their ballots at 14,500 polling stations in 3,000 subdistricts across the province.

The LSI-JIP conducted its survey in 400 polling stations in 15 regencies and municipalities, while the LSI carried out its survey in 500 polling stations.

Setia said SOHE's narrow defeat was probably due to the candidates's absence in a second round of public debates held before the election.

A widely circulated photo showing Syahrial, the province's incumbent governor, gambling in the Genting Highlands resort in Malaysia, was also believed to have affected SOHE's chances at the ballot box, Setia added.

The LSI-JIP survey showed ALDY winning in several regencies, including Musi Banyuasin (where Alex served as regent), Banyuasin, Empat Lawang, Lahat, Pagaralam, Muaraenim and Prabumulih.

SOHE was victorious in the regencies of Lubuklinggau, Musi Rawas, Ogan Ilir, Ogan Komering Ilir, Ogan Komering Ulu, Ogan Komering Ulu Timur, Ogan Komering Ulu Selatan and Palembang.

However, the Policy and Strategic Development Research Center (Puskaptis), an early SOHE campaign adviser, said its quick count showed SOHE leading by 51.11 percent.

Using the same multistage random sampling and a margin of error of between 1 and 2 percent, the true winner of the election will likely be decided in a manual count, which would be conducted the South Sumatra General Election Commission (KPUD). The commission will announce the winner on September 14.

If ALDY wins the election, it would be the Golkar Party's first gubernatorial election victory, following defeats for the party's candidates in West Java, Central Java, East Java, Lampung, North Sumatra, South Sulawesi and Bali.

ALDY, also backed by the National Mandate Party and the Democratic Party, promised free education and healthcare programs during their campaign.

"Thank you to the people who supported us. I will fulfill all my promises," Alex said in response to the quick count results.

Hopefuls fail to push environment

By Rizal Harahap
Source : The Jakarta Post

Three Riau governor and vice-governor candidate pairs failed to address threats to the region's environment, including deforestation, when they outlined their strategies during a plenary session of the province's legislative council on Friday.

Governor candidate Chaidir and running mate Suryadi Chusaini, who were nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, promised to allocate 60 percent of the province's budget for poverty alleviation, education, health care and infrastructure development.

"This province is rich in natural resources, but still has a high poverty number. It means the development approach in the province was wrong and should be changed," said Chaidir, who is also the legislative council chairman.

He criticized the previous governor for touting the province's 8-percent economic growth rate despite rising poverty and unemployment figures.

Golkar Party-nominated governor candidate Rusli Zainal and running mate Bambang Mit said they would concentrate on developing infrastructure in villages and isolated areas.

"We will improve the quality of human resources in villages and isolated areas. We will free them from the poverty trap," said Rusli, who is also the incumbent governor and chairman of the province's Golkar Party chapter.

However, Rusli said his administration had reduced the rate of poverty in the province to 10 percent in 2007 from 14 percent in 2004.

The unemployment rate also decreased to 9.28 percent from 13.9 percent in the same period, he said.

Governor candidate Thamsir Rachman and running mate Taufan Andoso Yakin, who were nominated by the Democratic Party, also pledged to develop villages and isolated areas.

"We will allocate 50 percent of the budget for development in villages and isolated areas," said Thamsir, a former regent of Indragiri Hulu regency.

Executive director of the Riau chapter of the Indonesian Forum for Environment Johny Setiawan Mundung said the governor candidates had avoided crucial issues, including illegal logging, deforestation and smoke pollution.

"They were not sensitive to the strategic issues which have been monitored by people across the world," Mundung told The Jakarta Post.

He said environmentalists had long doubted that the candidates were committed to conserving the environment.

"If we look at their track records, two of the governor candidates were involved in damaging the forest," he said without mentioning the names of the candidates.

He said the candidates had promoted investment activities that had resulted in damaged forests in their respective regencies.

Mundung called on the public to abstain from voting in the election, citing that none of the candidates could be depended on to protect or rehabilitate the environment.

Golkar candidate wins S. Sumatra gubernatorial race

By Khairul Saleh
Source : The Jakarta Post

The South Sumatra General Elections Commission (KPUD) on Thursday named Alex Noerdin, backed by the Golkar Party, as the winner of the province's gubernatorial election.

The KPUD's decision to declare Alex and his running mate Eddy Yusuf the winners was based on the recapitulation of vote counts from election commissions in regencies and municipalities across the province in a KPUD plenary session in Palembang.

Alex and Eddy, popularly known as ALDY, took 1,866,390 votes (51.40 percent), edging out the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDIP) Syahrial Oesman and his running mate TV host Helmy Yahya (SOHE), who took 1,764,373 votes (48.60 percent).

The KPUD's decision mirrored the results of quick counts conducted two survey institutes, the Indonesian Survey Circle and Public Issue Network and the Indonesian Survey Institute, conducted immediately after polling on September 4.

Commenting on his victory, Alex, the former regent of Musi Banyuasin, thanked his constituents for their support in this first ever direct gubernatorial election in the province.

"I will not implement certain programs. I will expedite all the programs we prepared earlier," Alex said.

ALDY's victory was the first major one for Golkar, following the party's defeats in West Java, Central Java, East Java, Bali, South Sulawesi and North Sumatra.

The victory was even more politically meaningful because it took place in the home province of Taufik Kiemas, the husband of PDI-P chairwoman and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The result defied earlier predictions that incumbent governor Syahrial, considered to have more access capital, would win.

But Alex, who successfully implemented popular programs in Musi Banyuasin, including free education and healthcare, proved more appealing to voters.

Alex, who was also nominated by the National Mandate Party, the Crescent Star Party, the Democratic Party and the National Freedom Bull Party, said he would resign if he failed to implement a free education program in his first year as governor.

The fierce competition between the two candidates was evident in the results of votes in Palembang and Banyuasin, which accounted for 40 percent of total votes. SOHE held a slight lead in Palembang, while ALDY triumphed in Banyuasin.

ALDY's victory was determined by the regencies of Empat Lawang, Pagaralam, Lahat (Alex's hometown) and Musi Banyuasin. In the latter regency, ALDY secured a whopping 200,147 votes to SOHE's 54,261.

Over the past two days, thousands of SOHE supporters have held protests in front of the KPUD office, demanding the commission conduct a reelection in Musi Banyuasin. The supporters allege there was possible voter fraud in the regency in favor of ALDY.

New W. Nusa Tenggara leaders sworn in

By Panca Nugraha
Source : The Jakarta Post

Home Minister Mardiyanto installed Zainul Madji and Badrul Munir as West Nusa Tenggara governor and vice governor in a ceremony held at the provincial legislative council on Wednesday.

Some 3,000 people attended the inauguration ceremony which was followed by a handover from previous governor and vice governor, Lalu Serinata and Bonyo Thamrin Rayes.

In his speech, Mardiyanto said the gubernatorial election process had run well, and thanked all those who had taken part in it.

"Even though there was a legal dispute after the election, eventually the problem was solved and those affected by it were able to accept the solution," he said.

"The key to being democratic is that all people obey the regulations and laws. It can be concluded that the gubernatorial election in West Nusa Tenggara had a happy ending.

The minister emphasized three issues the new governor and vice governor should pay attention to.

First, they must work hard especially in allocating state funds through the provincial budget by prioritizing public spending.

Second, to facilitate the interests of mayoralties and regencies in their territory.

And third, they should eradicate and prevent corrupt practices especially in the procurement of goods and services.

"Any national policy set by the central government for the public interest should be analyzed and implemented correctly by regional administrations," he said.

Mardiyanto expected the West Nusa Tenggara residents to fully support as well as control and criticize the new leaders, so they could realize their development goals.

During their campaign, Zainul and Badrul, nominated by the Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) and Crescent Star Party (PBB), promised free education and health access.

"We will realize these policies through the 2009 provincial budget. We hope, at least, there will be no children who cannot enter elementary and junior high schools because of financial constraints," Zainul said.

Separately, hundreds of members of the Jamaah Ahmadiyah sect currently being housed in the transmigration dormitory hoped the new leaders would pay them more attention.

The sect members have lived in this dormitory since they were driven out of their homes in Ketapang hamlet, West Lombok, in February 2006. There are 137 people in the dormitory. Another 57 people are taking shelter in the former Praya General Hospital building after being driven out of their homes in Praya village, Central Lombok, in June 2006.

PPP nominates female politician in E. Java

Source : The Jakarta Post

The United Development Party (PPP) will nominate Khofifah Indar Parawansa as the only female candidate in the governor's race in the province in July.

PPP chairman Suryadharma Ali said his party nominated her because of her political experience as minister for the empowerment of women in 1999 and for her integrity.

"She is a female politician from the largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, and has the experience of being a minister in the past," he said here Thursday.

Suryadharma, also minister of cooperatives and small and medium enterprises, said Khofifah was expected to do well with female voters in the province because she would be the only female candidate contesting the race.

Of 19 million eligible voters in the province, 40 percent are members of the NU and around 60 percent are women.

Governor candidates address mudflow

By ID Nugroho
Source : The Jakarta Post

Candidates contending the East Java gubernatorial race are at loggerheads over the mudflow disaster, which has affected 14 villages in the East Java regency of Sidoarjo and has left thousands of victims uncertain of their future.

Two gubernatorial candidates, Khofifah Indar Parawansa and Soekarwo, and vice governor hopeful Ali Maschan Moesa showed support for a presidential regulation requiring PT Lapindo Brantas Inc. to only pay compensation to residents of the four villages already buried by the mudflow. Sutjipto, a candidate nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), blamed the mining company, owned by Abdurizal Bakrie's family, for the mudflow, saying the company should take responsibility for the mudflow and affected residents.

Khofifah, paired with Mudjiono and nominated by a coalition of 12 small parties, said Saturday both the government and Lapindo should address the mudflow victims by implementing the presidential regulation and by conducting a review of the map of affected villages.

"If I win the election, my government will focus on handling the situation according to the presidential regulation, updating the data on the victims and reconstructing damaged infrastructure," she said, adding all affected villages should receive equal treatment.

She declined to comment on the result of a new study that said Lapindo was the main culprit of the disaster. She said her government would devote greater attention to education for the victims, especially those living in the Porong market building.

Some 600 families from the affected village of Renokenongo have occupied the market building for almost two years and have rejected the compensation scheme offered to them, which they say puts no sanctions on Lapindo if it failed to pay out the compensation.

Ali Maschan called on the government to focus on the relocation of the victims to safe areas, instead of paying cash in compensation for the victims. "It is better for the government to resettle all the victims to new safe areas because the presidential regulation does not guarantee Lapindo will pay compensation to the victims."

Lapindo and the government should also widen the Porong road connecting Surabaya and Malang to settle the daily traffic jam problem, which costs the people Rp 400 billion per month, he said.

Soekarwo, nominated by the National mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Party (PD), called on the government and Lapindo to construct strong giant dikes to prevent the mudflow from overflowing and sweeping through surrounding villages.

He also said the provincial government should complete the reconstruction of power, liquid gas and water pipelines in 2009.

"It is the government's task to fund the reconstruction work and to provide compensation for the victims," he said.

Sutjipto, paired with Ridwan Hisjam, said the government should bring the Bakrie family to justice and pay for all the negative social impacts of the mud leakage.

"The gas leakage was caused by the company's negligence, for which the Bakrie family should take responsibility," he said.

The Nation Awakening Party's Ahmady, paired with Suhartono, declined to comment on the mudflow problem, which he said should be settled by the government and Lapindo.

Mudflow victims said they would likely not use their voting rights in the gubernatorial elections if the candidates did not pay attention to the prolonged issue.

Besuki resident Abdul Rohim, whose village was one of the ten affected by the mudflow, said "All legislators paying no attention to their constituents should be replaced."

Khofifah lobbies big parties, rival eyes ulema, nonvoters

By Indra Harsaputra
Source : The Jakarta Post

The two contending pairs of East Java gubernatorial candidates have different approaches and strategies in their bids to win the second round of elections.

Khofifah Indar Parawansa and running mate Mudjiono, who were nominated by the United Development Party (PPP), are approaching major political parties whose candidates were defeated in the first round.

Rival Soekarwo and running mate Saifullah Yusuf, nominated by the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Party, are lobbying ulemas to persuade the golput, a term used to describe eligible voters who choose not to vote.

The Khofifah-Mudjiono pair recently met with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, also chairman of the Golkar Party, and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Both, however, have yet to give their official response.

In the first round, PDI-P won 21.18 percent of the total votes while Golkar gained 19.34 percent.

The Soekarwo-Saifullah pair, on the other hand, met with a number of ulemas to win their support and deployed a number of campaign teams and political volunteers into rural areas to persuade farmers and fishermen who it is believed abstained from voting in the first round.

About 38.38 percent, or 11.1 million of the 29 million eligible voters, were non-voters. According to local political analysts, this was due to their dissatisfaction with the current provincial government and the candidates' unclear political and economic programs.

"We are working harder to convince the golput group so we will win," Soekarwo said Tuesday.

The two pairs secured their tickets to go to the second round after none of the five hopefuls won at least 30 percent of the total votes as is required by Law No. 14/2008 on regional administration.

Soekarwo said he was optimistic the golput group would vote for him and Saifullah to lead the province for the next five years.

The Khofifah-Mudjiono pair's campaign team leader Maskur Hasyim claimed that Megawati had given her personal support for Khofifah with hopes they will support her in her bid for president in 2009.

He also claimed that 700 PAN cadres in the province have pledged to give their political support to Khofifah.

Maskur, also a PPP legislator at the provincial legislature, said his side was conducting was intensively lobbying the country's largest Muslim organization Nadhlatul Ulama (NU), especially its functionaries and supporters in the province.

"Pak Hasyim has pledged to act as a bridge between Khofifah and Mudjiono and NU leaders in the province," he said.

Hasyim has frequently expressed his political support for Khofifah, saying it was not wrong to vote for a female governor.

Before the first round, Khofifah reportedly donated Rp 1 billion to NU and a car worth Rp 100 million to a NU-affiliated woman's organization.

Hasyim admitted receiving a donation from Khofifah -- who is also a member of NU -- but denied it was given to assist Khofifah in the gubernatorial race.

Both the government and the General Election Commission have yet to decide the date for the second round.

PDI-P, Golkar indecisive who to back in E. Java second poll

By Indra Harsaputra
Source : The Jakarta Post

Despite a unilateral claim of political support by one pair of hopefuls, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and the Golkar Party have yet to decide who to back in the upcoming second round of the East Java gubernatorial elections.

Candidates supported by both Golkar and PDIP did not get enough votest to enter the second round.

PDIP's deputy chairman, Tjahjo Kumolo, stressed Saturday that his party was still learning about the two pairs of governor hopefuls and the decision would be taken in the last minutes.

"The two pairs have equal opportunities to win the second round but we are still learning about the stronger candidate to whom we will give our political support," he said.

"Party cadres and supporters in the province have become smart and they know whom they would elect to be their leader."

Tjahjo was speaking after a meeting between the House of Representatives' Lapindo mudflow monitoring team and acting governor Setia Purwoko and other local officials.

Leader of the campaign team for Khofifah Indar Parawansa and Mudjiono claimed recently that his camp has won support from PDIP in the second round with hope that the pair would support the presidential candidacy of party's chairmanwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri in the 2009 presidential election.

Meanwhile, the campaign team of Soekarwo and Saifullah Yusuf has also made a similar claim after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, also chairman of Golkar.

Khofifah and Mudjiono are nominated by the United Development Party (PPP) while Soekarwo and Saifullah are supported by the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Party (PD).

PDIP, which nominated Soetjipto and Ridwan in the first round, has more than 3.6 million supporters in Ponorogo, Blitar, Trenggalek, Surabaya and Banyuwangi.

Meanwhile, Golkar, which nominated Soenarso and Ali Maschan Musa, has 3.2 million supporters in Tuban, Bojonegoro and Ngawi.

Separately, chairman of the Golkar faction at the House of Representatives, Priyo Budi Santoso, also said that his party has yet to determine which candidate to get its political support.

He said his party had three options, namely to support Khofifah, support Soekarwo, or to entrust it to party branches in regencies and municipalities.

He admitted that chairman of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Hasyim Muzadi has frequently lobbied Golkar senior members to support the Khofifah-Mudjiono pair.

Both Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto and the General Election Commission have agreed to hold the second round on Nov. 4 with a budget of Rp 200 billion (US$21.5 million).

Governor candidates seek support from clerics

By Indra Harsaputra
Source : The Jakarta Post

Both candidates contesting the second round of the East Java gubernatorial election have approached influential clerics from Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Islamic organization, to draw support.

Khofifah Indah Parawansa and her running mate Mudjiono on Wednesday held a meeting at the Al-Hikam Islamic boarding school in Malang. The school is owned by NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi.

Rival Soekarwo and his running mate Saifullah Yusuf on Thursday met with influential NU clerics at the Sukolilo Haj dormitory in Surabaya.

Khofifah and Mudjiono are backed by the United Development Party (PPP), while Soekarwo and Saifullah are backed by the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Party.

Also in attendance at the Malang meeting were officials from the NU and its affiliate organizations, including Fatayat and Muslimat, and officials from political parties supporting Khofifah and Mudjiono.

During the meeting, Hasyim and other NU officials reiterated their promise to fully support Khofifah and Mudjiono in the second round of voting.

"This meeting is aimed at maintaining NU's solidity, and this is an initial step to prevent the NU from fragmenting during campaigning for the second round of the election," campaign team leader Masykur Hasyim said after the meeting.

He added the meeting would be followed by a roadshow to NU strongholds in the province during the remaining weeks of the fasting month.

During the meeting, NU clerics also evaluated the campaign team's performance and advised the team on strategies to win the most votes.

In Sukolilo, dozens of influential NU clerics issued a tausiah (decision and promise) to stand behind Soekarwo and Saifullah.

Soekarwo hailed the clerics' political supporters, whom he said stood behind him because of his proposed plans to boost the province's economic growth over the next five years.

The clerics included Zainuddin Djazuli and KH Idris Marzuki from Kediri, KH Mas Nawawi Abdul Jalil from Pasuruan, Ahmad Sufyan Miftah and Kholil As'ad from Situbondo, Abdul Hamid from Pamekasan and Nuruddin Musyiri from Probolinggo.

In addition to the clerics, both candidates are wooing two major political parties: the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), whose candidates failed to garner enough votes to enter the second round of the election.

Khofifah has tiny lead in E. Java poll

By Ridwan Max Sijabat
Source : The Jakarta Post

The second round of the East Java gubernatorial election is likely to be the closest race the province has seen, with Khofifah and Mudjiono only slightly ahead of rival pair Soekarwo and Saifullah Yusuf in opinion polls.

According to a recent survey, if the second round was held now, 37.6 percent of respondents would vote for Khofifah and Mudjiono (or Kaji, as the pair is known), and 36.4 percent for Soekarwo and Saifullah (Karsa).

The survey, conducted by the National Survey Institute (LSN) and Surabaya Survey Centre (SSC) from Sept. 11 to Sept. 17, polled 784 voters from different ethnic, economic and political backgrounds across all 38 regencies and municipalities in the province.

Political support is growing for Kaji thanks to female voters supporting a woman candidate and backing from parties defeated in the first round, SSC executive director Umar S. Bakry said at the presentation of the survey findings Monday.

"Most respondents chose Khofifah because she is a woman and they like the way she speaks and thinks and she appears an intelligent figure," he said.

Umar said that according to the survey, 82.5 percent of respondents were aware of Soekarwo and his running mate and 82.4 percent knew of Khofifah and Mudjiono.

"Karsa is only 0.1 percent better known than Kaji. This could change depending on how the two contenders approach religious and informal leaders and major political parties in the province," Umar said.

He said that 37.9 percent of respondents knew about Karsa's vision, mission and political programs, with 34.7 percent aware of Kaji's political programs.

"As far as public performance goes, 29.2 percent prefer the political speeches and issues raised by Karsa and 25.2 percent prefer those raised by Kaji," he said,

The survey was conducted using multistage random sampling with a margin of error of 3.5 percent and a confidence interval of 95 percent.

Umar said Soekarwo and Saifullah found their main political support in Lamongan, Ngawi, Magetan, Trenggalek, Madiun municipality, Kediri, Tulungagung, Lumajang, Situbondo, Bangkalan and Pamekasan.

Khofifah and Moedjiono are dominant in Malang municipality and regency, Probolinggo municipality and regency, Pasuruan municipality and regency, Tuban, Jombang, Madiun regency, Surabaya, Bojonegoro and Sampang.

"In other regencies and municipalities, both have relatively equal amounts of political support," he said.

He added that 20.2 percent of the respondents had yet to determine their choice and 5.7 percent said they would not vote, for unspecified reasons.

To consolidate their position going into the second round, Khofifah and Moedjiono, who were nominated by the United Development Party (PPP) and endorsed by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization, are touring all regencies and municipalities during Ramadan and seeking support from major political parties, including the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party.

Soekarwo and Saifullah have also organized several political campaign rallies with the ulema outside NU in a bid to win over voters.

They have deployed teams to campaign at the grassroots level during the fasting month.

Political observers said the two camps were active at the grassroots in a bid to win support from the 38 percent of eligible voters who did not vote in the first round in June.

About 27 million eligible voters are expected to vote in the second round scheduled for Nov. 4, 2008.

Papuans charged for vandalizing court

Source : The Jakarta Post

Jakarta Police charged five Papuans as suspects Thursday for causing malicious damage at the Anticorruption Court offices in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.

They were among more than 100 supporters of Lukas Enembe and Arobi Achmad Aituaraw, the losing candidates for governor and deputy governor in the recent Papua gubernatorial election.

They ran amok, smashing window panes and furniture after the Supreme Court refused to overturn the victory of Barnabas Suebu and Alexander Hassegem, whom the protesters alleged rigged the election.

""We did not detain them because they were very cooperative,"" said the chief of the general crimes unit, Adj. Sr. Comr. Firli Bahuri, on Thursday.

A group of police officers from the South Jakarta Police arrested the five during a raid Wednesday on a villa in Cisarua, about 90 kilometers south of Jakarta. The police also seized a laptop computer and some banners during the raid.

Lukas and his supporters accused Barnabas and Alex of rigging the vote by concealing ballot boxes from Yahukimo regency officers. Yahukimo regency is a Lukas stronghold.

After vandalizing the court building, about 80 of Lukas' supporters proceeded to the Home Ministry offices in Central Jakarta to continue their protest.

Papua held its first direct gubernatorial election on March 10 after it had been postponed twice for political reasons.

The election was contested by five tickets fighting for the votes of the 1.4 million registered electors in the province's 20 regencies and mayoralties.

The Lukas-Arobi ticket was nominated by four parties while the Barnabas-Alex ticket was supported by five parties. In the March 10 election, the Barnabas-Alex ticket garnered 354,763 of the more than 1.1 million valid votes while the Lukas-Arobi pairing came second with 333,629 votes.

The Lukas-Arobi camp challenged the results in the Jayapura High Court and then appealed to the Supreme Court, accusing the Barnabas-Alex ticket of tampering with 17,000 ballots in Kurima district, Yahukimo regency.

Papuan governor election bogged down by infighting

By Nethy Dharma Somba
Source : The Jakarta Post

Barnabas Suebu won Papua's direct gubernatorial election, but he hasn't had time to celebrate yet.

Instead, the newly elected governor and his lawyers, led by Bambang Widjojanto, reported Papua Council Speaker John Ibo to the police for alleged defamation on Saturday.

Bambang said John, who ran unsuccessfully against Barnabas, had accused Barnabas of using fake documents to register as a candidate for the March 10 election.

He said the story was picked up by local media in early June, after the Papua General Elections Commission had declared Barnabas and his running mate Alex Hassegem the winners.

Bambang said John violated articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code and could face up to four years in jail if found guilty.

Earlier, the lawyer also filed a lawsuit against John Ibo at the Jayapura District Court, demanding more than Rp 500 billion (US$52,6 million) in compensation.

Bambang said John had attacked his client personally, as well as attacking his integrity and defaming him. He said Barnabas did not use fake documents to run in the election.

Barnabas said in a press conference in Jayapura that the fake document referred to in the statement was a letter explaining that he had lost his senior high school diploma. He said he never had a high school diploma, since he never took the final examination.

He explained that when he was a first-year student at SMA Advent Doyo Sentani senior high school, he took a Colloquium Doctum program ran by Cendrawasih University and passed, which enabled him to enroll at the university's School of Law.

""So I have never had a high school diploma,"" he said.

He said the letter explaining that he had lost his diploma was drafted by his campaign team, who did not know that he does not have one.

He said he had ordered his campaign team to withdraw the document and openly explained the matter to the public.

John Ibo said he was surprised by the lawsuit, adding that he had simply followed up on peoples' reports in his capacity as council speaker.

""But I'm not scared. I have the truth and the law will recognize the truth,"" he said.

The lawsuit is not the only thing that has kept Barnabas out of the governor's office.

After he was officially named as the election's winner by the Papua General Elections Commission at the end of May, the commission released two conflicting letters.

One letter, dated June 6 and released by the council's deputy, Komaruddin Watubun, said Barnabas and his running mate Alex should be officially installed in their offices for the 2006-2011 period.

But the next day, another letter was issued by John Ibo, saying Komaruddin's letter violated the council's procedures.

In the letter, John also said the two could only be installed following a plenary meeting, which would be held only after the council's investigative team completed its probe of Barnabas' alleged use of fake documents.

Mimika gets ready for tsunami survivors

By Markus Makur
Source : The Jakarata Post

Mimika regency in Papua will hold its first direct election on March 26 next year.

The Mimika Election Commission has established election guidelines and have familiarized all political parties with the process.

The commission has also decided that the minimum requirement for each candidate is 15 percent representation by their party in the local legislative council.

""As the head of the Mimika Election Commission, I am ready to run the regency election in Mimika. The commission has already told all parties about the regulations,"" commission head Yosephina Ana Balla told journalists last week.

""I hope the election will go well, as it is the first time Mimika residents will elect their leader directly,"" she said.

She said the commission had prepared the election in line with current regulations even before receiving a letter from Mimika council about the planed election.

Balla said the success of the election would depend on the support of Mimika's residents and political parties. She hoped that journalists would support the effort by informing the public of the importance of voting.

She said she had asked the Mimika administration to support the election. ""Now, the Mimika administration is preparing voter data,"" she added.

Former Mimika regent Klemen Tinal has urged residents to give their support to the success of the election in the region. He said he hoped the election would run peacefully.

Tinal will run as candidate for regent for the Golkar Party.

Several political parties, including the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and Indonesia Socialist Party, have decided to run together as the People's Voice Coalition (Koalisi Suara Rakyat).

The coalition supports Yoseph Yopi Kilangin for regent and Yohanes Felix Yeuyanan for deputy regent candidate.

""We support the election running well and peacefully. We are ready to gain as many votes as possible and win the election,"" coalition head Mark Samaran said.

KPU told to act against Papua

By Adianto P. Simamora
Source : The Jakarta Post

A poll monitoring body on Friday urged the General Elections Commission (KPU) to take action against the Papua poll body for extending the deadline for the registration of legislative candidates.

Hadar N. Gumay, executive director of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), said the extension violated a regulation issued by the KPU itself. Registration of candidates across the country officially closed at midnight on August 18.

"To consistently uphold election regulations, the KPU has to take the lead in questioning this extension. If it was done under pressure from certain parties, the KPU should protect the Papua poll body," Hadar said.

"However, if the initiative came from the Papua poll commission itself, it deserves to be punished. The KPU cannot remain silent on this issue."

The Papua poll commission closed registration hours after the deadline, citing the failure of many political parties in regencies such as Jayawijaya and Lani Jaya to find legislative candidates.

Among the parties that failed to meet the registration deadline were President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, Vice President Jusuf Kalla's Golkar Party and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS).

Hadar said the KPU had to enforce the election law for the sake of credibility.

"Regional poll commissions cannot give parties special treatment. This disrupt efforts to hold peaceful elections because other parties will demand the same treatment," he said.

The Election Supervisory Body's (Bawaslu) Widyaningsih called on the KPU to promote transparency in the Papua case and other matters pertaining to next year's general elections.

"In future, the KPU should uphold the schedule strictly. It may treat Papua differently because of its geographical problems, but this must be made public in advance," she said.

KPU member Andi Nurpati said sanctions against the Papua poll body would be taken only after it officially clarified what really occurred.

"Because this relates to policy, we need an official statement from the regional poll body," she said.

Amid mounting criticism over shoddy preparations for the elections, the KPU on Friday decided to provide a new office car to each of its seven members, at a cost of Rp 300 million each.

"The new cars will be delivered in September," Dalail, head of the KPU's logistics bureau, was quoted as saying by Antara.

He said office cars previously used by former KPU officials would be given to bureau heads at the commission.

"Our job is only to buy the cars. Whether KPU officials choose to make use of them is up to them," he said.

All provincial elections commission chiefs will also receive new cars, valued at Rp 150 million each.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 3:44 PM Be a member & get the benefits! Register or login Center for Electoral Reform holds vote simulation in Papua

By Nethy Dharma Somba
Source : The Jakarta Post

The Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) held a simulation ballot on Thursday in Skanto district, Keerom regency, some 60 kilometers east of Jayapura.

The simulation, the first of its kind in Papua, drew overwhelming attention from local residents.

Hundreds of Skanto residents gathered at the Jaifury soccer field beginning at 8 a.m, two hours before the simulation was scheduled to begin.

Ten ballot boxes were set up in the soccer field by Cetro and its local counterpart, the Keerom General Elections Commission (KPU).

The simulation ballot began with the chairman of each ballot box (TPS) taking an oath, followed by random checks of the ballot papers.

When the balloting was declared open, the impatient residents began to jostle each other as they tried to get to the front of the line.

""Get in line,"" shouted a man to a young woman who was trying to push ahead of him.

""Sorry. I left my son at home so I have to be fast,"" she replied.

The Skanto district consists of five villages and 2,700 residents, 1,600 of whom are eligible voters.

In the simulation, each eligible voter was given five ballot papers to vote for president, vice president, and members of the Regional Representative Council, the House of Representatives and the provincial and regency councils.

""They should attach photographs of the legislators to the ballot papers because many residents are illiterate,"" local resident Yosef Turot said.

Smita Notosusanto, Cetro's executive director, said some 50.36 percent of the 500 ballots cast during the simulation contained errors.

As the 2004 poll draws near, the high rate of error should serve as a lesson for the KPU to educate the people about the voting procedure, she said.

Papua is the 11th province where Cetro has held simulation ballots.

Papua locals take part in election simulation

By Nethy Dharma Soma
Source : The Jakarta Post

Residents in Keerom regency, Papua, on Tuesday took part in the first election drill to prepare for the elections for legislative bodies at the national and regional levels scheduled to take place next year.

The legislative bodies include the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) at the national level, and regional legislative councils at the provincial, mayoralty and municipality levels.

The rehearsal, which took place in Workwana village, went smoothly with villagers and local officials participating in the event.

"Fill the empty seats in the front," shouted a male poll worker at a polling station.

The atmosphere was cheerful as people joked among themselves despite the sweltering heat.

During the rehearsal, a polling station, which served 300 voters previously, accommodated 500 voters.

Voters took around seven minutes to unfold the ballot papers and mark their candidates inside the polling booth.

Each of the mock voters was provided with rice packages and transportation money as they left the polling station.

Residents were also taught voting procedures. During the previous elections, voters perforated the pictures of candidates and political parties, but they will mark them with ink at next year's election.

"Voters can place a tick on a candidate's face, his of her name, or number. A ballot paper with two markings, such as on the legislative candidate's and party's name would be invalid," said Papua General Elections Commission (KPUD) official, Hisjam Sangadji.

Residents also asked a lot of questions during the public awareness campaign.

"What happens if voters are sick and cannot make it to a polling station?" asked a resident.

"Polling workers will come to their homes and assist them with the voting process," Sangadji said.

"What if someone is deaf or illiterate?" asked another resident.

"Polling workers, accompanied by a witness and supervisor, will guide the voter to the polling booth," explained Sangadji.

He emphasized that voters no longer have to perforate ballot papers, but mark them.

"Punching holes is no longer in effect, but ticking or marking is," he said.

Most people preferred ticking despite only recently being made familiar with the process.

"It's easier to use a marker than a nail," Linda, a local resident, said.

KPU commissioner responsible for law and supervision affairs, I Gusti Putu Artha, told reporters that the simulation was aimed at ascertaining the real problems in the field and helping formulate simpler procedures.

"We must be able to formulate the exact procedures on voting for people, from the aspects of time allocation, voters' capacity, adjustment from perforating to marking and voters' background, age and education level," Putu said.

Keerom was one of three places holding a simulation, together with Aceh and East Java.

Keerom was selected because of its pluralism and it is an area which could represent urban and rural communities.

Keerom is home to 29,600 eligible voters and 105 polling stations in six districts.

Keerom regent Celcius Watae expressed his full support for the simulation and public awareness campaign.

"After this, we will help the KPUD to familiarize the public on elections," he said.

Faulty ballot papers hiccup in poll preparations

By Mustaqim Adamrah
Source : The Jakarta Post

With the Jakarta gubernatorial election approaching, the Jakarta Elections Commission has announced it has finished 95 percent of the logistical preparations needed for polling day.

But the commission has said some of the ballot papers needed for the Aug. 8 election are defective.

The commission's deputy logistics task force head, Dolvi Ngantung, said Thursday the commission had been distributing the necessities for polling over the past two weeks.

Logistical preparations include sending out ballot papers, ballot seals, ballot boxes, election booths, ink and voter IDs.

""Actually, we have until next Monday, based on the schedule, to distribute all logistics down to Jakarta's subdistrict level,"" Dolvi told reporters at the commission headquarters.

""But the commission has a policy of shortening the period the distribution must be complete by to around Aug. 2 or 3,"" he said.

Dolvi said the commission could then use the remaining days to deal with any defects in essential election supplies.

""Next, the commission (can) retrieve the faulty property after it's scanned, and the supplying company will replace them with new ones still in good shape,"" he said.

Thousands of ballot papers have already been reported to be defective.

Commission secretary Muflizar said the number of faulty ballot papers was ""insignificant"".

""Flaws like tears on ballot papers or folded ballot papers are common human errors,"" he said.

""And the number of faulty ballot papers has only reached the hundreds, far less than the commission has provided for the election,"" he said.

The commission has provided enough ballots for all 5.7 million voters, plus an excess 2.5 percent, bringing the total to 5.84 million ballot papers.

Muflizar said it was important to retrieve and replace the faulty papers.

On Wednesday, the election committee in Senen district, Central Jakarta, found 750 defective ballot papers, committee chairman Dilah told Tempointeraktif.

The flaws included broken ballot paper seals, holes, tears, ink splashes and imperfect colors.

In addition, more than 2,000 ballot papers sent to Kepulauan Seribu were flawed, Dolvi said.

""The supplier has replaced those faulty ballot papers with new ones, and we have sent them to the regency,"" he said.

Dolvi said the ballot paper supplier was PT Pura Dewata Lestari, a company based in Kudus, Central Java.

Muflizar said there would be 11,253 polling posts in 267 subdistricts on Aug. 8.

Each post will be operational from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will contain, two tools for punching ballots, three pillows for punching ballot papers on, one ballot template for the visually impaired, two bottles of ink, a set of ballot papers and two polling booths.

Two public order officers and a number of representatives of the 19 bodies overseeing the election will monitor voting at each post.

In addition, registered voters will receive their IDs from local community heads between Saturday and Tuesday.

The commission has also prepared special booths to be placed inside state prisons.

""There will be two booths in Cipinang penitentiary, East Jakarta, and two in Salemba penitentiary, Central Jakarta,"" Muflizar said.

Jakarta Police plan to send out 54,000 personnel to keep the peace on election day.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said Friday the city police had already used 36,000 personnel to keep order during campaigning between July 22 and August 3.

One police officer will be assigned to patrol three polling posts in the same area, backed up by a squad of at least seven policemen on mobile patrol watching over an area of seven or eight polling posts.

Commission provides Braille ballots

Source : The Jakarta Post

The principle of direct, public and free elections where voting secrecy is guaranteed -- commonly referred to with the ellipsis of luber -- may just be another catchall term in the vocabulary of Indonesian democracy, a concept that citizens can easily take for granted.

But for the 1.5 percent of the country's population who are blind or visually impaired, the ability to exercise what is actually an inherent civil and political right remains a distant privilege.

The situation, however, is about to change for Jakarta's blind and visually impaired residents as the Jakarta Elections Commission will equip all of the 11,256 poll booths set up for Wednesday's gubernatorial election with a Braille ballot map.

""We're providing a template aid for the visually impaired, which will be made available at each polling booth,"" commission secretary Muflizar told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

The voter is supposed to slip the ballot paper in between a template made in the size of the ballot paper and commence voting by punching their choice after reading the Braille description on top of the two punch boxes.

The usage of the Braille template, however, is not a first in Indonesia's election history. It was used for the first time during the 2004 presidential election.

A slight adjustment has nonetheless been made to the design of the ballot papers for the gubernatorial election, Muflizar said.

A special hologram sticker, which is placed on the left side on the back of each ballot paper for authenticity verification, further assists the blind in properly placing the paper in its correct position.

Made Adi Gunawan, the secretary of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Union for the Blind, welcomes the initiative.

""The sticker's smooth surface allows a blind voter to locate the front side of the ballot so the paper won't be upside down,"" he said Monday.

""Blind voters who cannot read Braille can still cast their vote by feeling the two Roman numerals under the two punch boxes corresponding to the poll number of each candidate"".

Adi estimated that there are around 23,000 blind and visually impaired people in Jakarta.

Although the provincial poll commission does not have the latest data on registered blind voters, the General Elections Commission recorded 4,000 blind voters in Jakarta in 2004.

According to Adi, the Jakarta commission's distribution of Braille templates at each poll booth not only allows for greater access for blind voters to vote, but also permits the votes to be cast privately and properly without the need of a helper.

The vice president of the Indonesian Union for the Blind, Otje Soedioto, however, is skeptical of the perceived improvement of the election facilities, stating that an overall change of mind-set is needed.

""A case in point is the delayed publication of blind-friendly ballots and election procedures that often fail to reach out to all eligible blind voters in time for the elections, not to mention that none of the candidates touch on the issues of blind and disabled people.

""Politicians, government officials and people in general need to realize that we're not the objects of philanthropy.""

Test run for 2009 voting favors ballot marking

Source : The Jakarta Post

A test to determine the best method for voters to mark ballots for forthcoming official elections has determined a more effective method that should prevent fraudulent votes and mistakes.

The Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) held the test simulation at Mayestik market in South Jakarta Sunday and found almost 60 percent of 150 voters said manually marking ballots was easier and resulted in fewer mistakes than perforating or punching holes in ballots.

Cetro conducted the simulation as part of its campaign to reform of the country's existing election system, which saw almost 11 million or 8.8 percent of the votes counted declared invalid, partly due to double perforations.

Following the simulation, Cetro recommended the House of Representatives promote a new method of balloting for the 2009 elections, which requires voters to mark the ballots.

Ballot punching has been adopted in the country since the first election in 1955.

"We realize this is a small simulation, but we hope it will provide an insight and lead our lawmakers to discuss the election bill and to consider this method," Cetro executive director Hadar N. Gumay said.

A House special committee and the government were making final amendments to the election bill, which is expected to be passed on Tuesday.

On Sunday night lawmakers and government officials were still debating some contentious issues, including the percentage of parliamentary threshold, legislator Andy Yuliani Paris said.

"The options so far are 1.5 percent, 2 percent and 3 percent (of the House seats)," Andi said.

The prevailing election law, which was passed in 2003, sets a 3 percent parliamentary threshold, which means political parties that failed to win at least 3 percent of House seats in 2004 will be unable to sit in the House as a separate faction and contest the 2009 polls.

Hadar said the House should adopt an electoral threshold, counted from the total votes, for reasons of practicality and fairness.

"The Parliament threshold is prone to protests from parties whose House seats are annulled or distributed to other parties because they cannot sit in the House," he said.

A group of 17 parties that failed to meet the parliamentary threshold demanded a judicial review of the policy last year, but the Constitutional Court rejected their motion.

Hadar also urged the House to drop an article requiring a legislative candidate to obtain at least 30 percent of the vote division number (BPP) to win automatic election.

"I think the figure is too high. People have the right to choose their representatives, therefore such a requirement is unnecessary," Hadar said.

BPP is calculated by dividing the number of votes with the number of legislative seats at stake in an electoral district.

The original draft of the election bill does not include the requirement.

In Bandung, State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said he was optimistic the election bill would be endorsed before the end of February.

He cited only a few number of articles that remained in dispute.

He said in the absence of the bill, the 2009 legislative elections would still run on schedule because the General Elections Commission had prepared a contingency plan.

House asks for new ballot design

Source : The Jakarta Post

With the House of Representatives moving to adopt an open election system, the old design for ballot papers will no longer be appropriate, a lawmaker says.

Member of the House's Commission II on legal affairs, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, asked the General Elections Commission to produce new ballot papers which will encourage voters to choose candidates, rather than political parties.

"What we need is the sense of voting for legislative candidates. Choosing political parties means we only maintain the closed election system," Ferry said, as quoted by Antara after a hearing with KPU members and the home affairs minister on the design of ballot papers. The hearing was conducted behind closed doors.

Article 176 of the 2008 election law says a ballot paper is considered valid if a voter marks the name, number or political party column of the paper.

If the voter marks the party column, the vote goes to the political party and will be pooled to determine the number of legislative seats it secures. If the candidate's column is marked, the vote goes to the legislative aspirant. He or she will automatically win a seat if they secure at least 30 percent of the bench-mark votes. The rest of the House seats will be allocated to political parties, in accordance with the volume of votes cast per party.

Major factions at the House plan to revise the election law to change the current closed election system to an open election system, for the sake of fairness. The turn-around comes amid political parties' attempts to regain public trust after a number of lawmakers have been implicated in corruption cases.

The Executive director of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) Hadar Navis Gumay concurred with Ferry, saying the KPU should encourage voters to select candidates rather than parties.

He said general elections should be held to select peoples' representatives, rather than party representatives.

"If we decide to apply an open election system, voters will choose candidates. Therefore the ballot papers must be designed to enable voters to mark candidates and their numbers," Hadar said.

KPU member Andi Nurpati said the KPU had prepared three designs for ballot paper for the 2009 elections.

"We are seeking advice from the House and the government as to which design is considered to be the best. The final say, however, is with us," Nurpati said.

The KPU and the House are also deliberating the ballot markings. In previous elections, voters perforated ballot papers. Public support has increased for the KPU to ask voters to tick the ballot paper.

Simulated election to help determine new ballot format

By Adianto P. Simamora
Source : The Jakarta Post

The national elections body is planning to conduct a string of voting simulations on proposed ballot formats to fix on the "simplest" one for the 2009 legislative poll.

The simulations will take place by the end of this month in Aceh, Papua and East Java provinces, the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced.

"We want to know which ballot design potential voters think works best. The final format will be determined after the simulations," KPU member Sri Nuryanti told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

She said the planned simulations would serve as a dry run, helping the KPU to identify potential issues or problems which might occur ahead of the legislative elections in April 2009.

"We will use the public opinions we gather during these simulations to come up with the best format," she said.

The KPU had previously drafted 10 model paper ballots using both vertical and horizontal formats to accommodate all 38 political parties with their legislative candidates.

The number of models was then narrowed down to three after the KPU presented it to the government and the House of Representatives for their input.

However, the KPU has yet to decide on the best implement voters will use to mark the paper ballots.

The 2008 elections law says a ballot is considered valid if the voter marks a name, number or political party column on the ballot.

The law, which requires a numerical order system to designate legislative candidates, stipulates if a voter marks a party column, the vote will go to the chosen party and will be pooled to determine the number of legislative seats it secures. But if the candidate's column is marked instead, the vote would go to legislative aspirants.

The law tasks the KPU with designing suitable ballots.

There will be 38 political parties, in addition to four local parties in Aceh, competing in the legislative elections next year.

The parties have, however, applied different selection systems with many of them adopting the old numerical order mechanism, which only benefits candidates topping their legislative lists.

The House of Representatives is deliberating whether to change the elections law to allow parties to implement an open system to determine their representatives in the House.

The KPU further said the simulations would involve about 500 eligible voters in each of the three provinces selected for the exercise.

The results would be shared with the government and the House to determine the final model for the paper ballot.

Refly Harun, a senior researcher with the Centre for Electoral Reform (CETRO), criticized the simulations as "too late" as the candidates have already been campaigning for more than a month.

"Teaching voters how to cast ballot papers is the second key element in election preparation. Many votes become worthless because the ballots are wrongly marked," he said.

He said many voters were still unaware they would need to mark ballot papers using a pen.

In past elections, eligible voters were only required to punch through the picture of their chosen party.

Refly said the KPU should invite all levels of voters, including those from basic and more advanced educational backgrounds, to identify difficulties with the voting process in the field.

Another KPU member Abdul Azis said earlier his office would allot Rp 1.2 trillion (US$ 129 million) to print and distribute ballots to voters throughout the country.

KPU's new ballot design tough for the blind: Watchdog NGO

By Agnes Winarti
Source : The Jakarta Post

The 2009 ballot paper design and its marking technique proposed by the General Elections Commission (KPU) may pose difficulties for visually impaired voters, said a civic election monitoring group Monday.

"Blind voters are more familiar with punching a hole in a ballot than with putting a check mark in a box," said Yuristinus Oloan of the Forum of Citizens Concerned about the Indonesian Legislature (Formappi) during a press conference Monday.

The watchdog NGO is a member of the working group monitoring elections preparation and implementation.

The working group also consists of Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta), People's Voter Education Network (JPPR) and Consortium for National Legal Reform (KRHN).

As reported in August, the KPU has proposed a new marking technique for Indonesian ballots: The voter should place a check mark in a box next to his or her choice instead of perforating the paper. A final decision on ballot design is pending.

The elections are scheduled to be held in April.

"A check mark is not a universally known voting mark -- especially for those with visual impairments since birth -- but perforating is," Ariani, chair of the Center for Election Access for Disabled Voters (Penca) told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Penca was established in 2002 to advocate for disabled voters in the 2004 election. Ariani cited World Health Organization data which estimated disabled people make of 10 percent of the country's total population.

"About 60 percent of those disabled people are registered voters," said Ariani, adding about 20 percent of that group were blind, roughly 2.9 million voters. She said most registered disabled voters were in Jakarta because they moved to the better care centers in the capital from around the country.

"The blind need additional special assistance, different from the general disabled voter pool, to be able to participate in the general election," she said.

The working group urged the KPU to stick to the old way of voting by perforating the paper ballot. It also proposed a ballot design which would provide a balanced format for both political party symbols and candidate names for the legislative councils.

"The 2009 elections, as stipulated in the 2008 elections law, aims to give voters the option of selecting individual candidates by name instead of just choosing the political party," said Jeirry Sumampow from JPPR.

Even for voters without disabilities, Hermawanto of LBH Jakarta said, marking a check opened the way for more voting errors which could render ballots invalid, compared with the perforating method.

"It's time for the KPU to take a final decision on the ballot design issue so they can start familiarizing voters with the chosen format," added Yulianto of the KRHN.

Editorial: Queueing for death

Editorial
Source : The Jakarta Post

We share the grief over the 21 women who died and many who were injured in the East Java stampede, with their families, relatives and friends and also with Saykhon Fikri, the giver of alms zakat and businessman.

This is the culmination of bad experiences of this type of alms giving when it has gone seriously wrong. We are saddened to see this bitter reality, that over two thousand poor people had to fight each other to try to get hold of Rp 30,000 (US$3). Extreme poverty was the main reason for them to wait for hours and ignore their own safety, just to try to get this small sum.

These tragic deaths raise the question of why so many Muslims still prefer to directly distribute their zakat and will not entrust it to government-appointed Bazis (Muslim charitable donation boards). Minister of Religious Affairs Maftuh Basyuni admitted in a media briefing that Bazis still often lack credibility in the society. It is also possible that zakat givers gain personal satisfaction from directly seeing the recipients of their donations.

One can't help but be reminded of some of the incidents arising at post offices during the recent distribution of government-sponsored cash assistance (BLT) for the poor, despite the presence of police and security officers.

Offering cash gifts, not an unusual practice among Muslims, is a commendable deed in a country where the Islamic obligatory alms institutions have yet to mature.

It is an irony, that such a good intention on the part of Saykhon should end up in tragedy. Islam obliges the rich to share their fortunes with the poor, including during the holy month of Ramadan.

This is a practice Saykhon has carried out every year since 2001 during the month when Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during day time. At such a time individuals as well as alms giving organizations practice the teaching of zakat.

As the stampede showed, however, good intentions do not always end well. Although helping the poor is commendable, especially in a country where almost half of the population of 230 million is poor, according to the World Bank.

The Pasuruan tragedy occurred when thousands of people hustled and jostled their way along a long narrow alley leading to the house of the donor. The people came not only from the tiny town of Pasuruan, but also from outside.

The tragedy also reflects that there are huge numbers of poor people. They came to Syakhon's house in droves as early as four o'clock in the morning, four hours before the alms giving started.

Some kind of precaution had been taken by the organizers. Only women were eligible to receive the alms. This precaution might have been taken by the alms giver because two people died in such incidents last year.

There is nothing wrong with alms giving and the good intention to give. What is wrong is the way in which it is being carried out.

Especially so, since incidents of this kind are recurrent from time to time. On Nov. 7, 2003, four died in an alms-giving stampede in Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta, where each recipient only received Rp 20,000. On Sept. 28, 2007 one died in a stampede in the East Java town of Gresik, near Surabaya, when the alms-seekers received Rp 100,000 each.

Similar incidents happened in various places, with dozens of people injured.

On Oct. 10, 2007 two incidents occurred in two different places.

Three people were hospitalized after being trampled in Bantul, near Yogyakarta, when the local regent distributed alms of Rp 20,000 per person from the compound of his house.

Dozens of people fainted in the East Java town of Lamongan in a Muslim boarding school and at an orphanage during an alms-giving distribution of Rp 20,000 to Rp 30,000 per person.

As the incidents arising during the government-sponsored cash for the poor (BLT) propgram have also shown, there is an urgent need to build the culture of queueing in public. The presence of security officers can only assist in preventing fatal incidents.

There is nothing wrong with open alms-giving but more elegant ways should be explored to oranize distribution. Mosques can be halfwayhouses for alms distribution, for example. Alms can always be distributed to the needy, rather than having alms-seekers coming to a central distribution point.

Another way is to revamp non-performing alms-giving institutions in such a way that they win public trust.

Police name suspect for charity incident in Pasuruan

Source : The Jakarta Post

The police have named a suspect allegedly responsible for an incident that killed 21 people during charity distribution in Pasuruan, East Java, on Monday morning.

National Police spokesperson Ir. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira said in Jakarta on Tuesday the suspect was Farouk, the second son of the charity giver, Syaikhon.

Abubakar said that Farouk was named as suspect as he was responsible for administering the handouts, which has been a tradition of his family every holy month of Ramadan since the 1990s.

According to witnesses, about 2,000 people attended the charity giving on Monday, crowding an area not large enough for the charity seekers. The 21 victims reportedly died of suffocation and heat exhaustion.

The police said they were not notified by the Syaikhon family prior to the charity giving and suspected a lack of preparation as the main cause for the havoc that killed the victims and injured many.

"The penalty for manslaughter is up to five years' imprisonment," he said.

When asked whether Syaikhon herself would be named a suspect, Abubakar said, she merely provided the place and money.

According to Abubakar, 18 people have been questioned as witnesses and more witnesses, including expert witnesses such as physicians, would be questioned soon.

On Monday morning, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his condolences for the victims and demanded the case to be investigated thoroughly, bringing those responsible to justice.

"Silence is golden is no longer sufficient for such a matter. The public needs explanations as to what happened and we must prevent it from happening again," he said at the State Palace.(and)

21 Killed in East Java Stampede

By Wahyoe Boediwardhana

Source : The Jakarta Post

Twenty-one women were killed and dozens of others injured in a stampede in the remote East Java regency of Pasuruan on Monday as crowds rushed to receive a cash gift from a local philanthropist.

The majority of those killed have been identified at the Dr. Soedarsono General Hospital, where the injured are receiving intensive medical care.

Most bodies have been claimed by relatives for burial at the public cemetery.

Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred when a crowd pushed through a long narrow alley leading to the house of Saykhon Fikri on Jl. Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo to receive zakat (obligatory alms) for the poor.

"Everyone in the crowd was competing for the cash gift of Rp 30,000 (US$3.30) each," said 36-year-old Lusiana, explaining how the deadly stampede began.

She said her friend, Riama, was among those killed.

Lusiana said the cash handout was scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. But hours beforehand, about 2,000 people were already thronging the narrow space near Saykhon's house and mosque.

A doctor examining the deceased at the hospital said the victims died from being trampled upon while in a weak physical condition from two weeks of fasting.

They also had a shortage of oxygen in the thick of the crowd, the doctor said.

The air temperature in the province is between 32 and 35 Celsius degrees.

Lusiana said she lost consciousness for a few seconds after being trampled on by dozens of other women pushing forward to get the cash gift.

"I pulled away to clear my head," she said.

Another survivor, Liana, who traveled a long distance to get the cash gift, said she found it difficult to breathe as she was trampled.

The 38-year-old thanked God for her survival and for the gift of Rp 30,000 that she managed to receive. She said she would spend it to celebrate Idul Fitri, the festival that marks the end of the Ramadan fasting month.

Pasuruan Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Herry Sitompul said the incident could have been avoided if the distribution of the cash was conducted in coordination with local authorities.

"All those involved in the cash gift distribution, including Saykhon, have been questioned. They are still undergoing intensive police interrogation," he said.

He said the incident should be a lesson to prevent similar cases from occurring.

"We encourage the rich to donate part of their fortune to the poor as it is required under Islamic teachings. But the distribution must be well conducted," he said.

Pasuruan mayor Aminurrochman and regent Dade Angga also expressed their condolences, saying they would cover the medical expenses for the injured and the burial fees for the dead.

Chairman of the local chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council, Dhofir, also lamented the tragedy, saying Saykhon had taken the wrong approach in realizing his good intentions to help local poor people.

Meanwhile, Vidya R. Budianti, spokeswoman for PT Gudang Garam, the nation's largest producer of cigarettes, said her company would seek an effective way to distribute its Fitrah tithe to the poor in Kediri and surrounding areas to avoid a similar incident from occurring.

Pasuruan Police Chief investigated for stampede incident

Source : The Jakarta Post

The East Java Police have launched an investigation into a possible procedural violation by top Pasuruan Police officials in relation to a stampede that killed 21 women Monday.

The top officials are Pasuruan Police chief, deputy chief and head of Pasuruan's intelligence division.

"The three officers will receive harsh sanctions if found that they were careless at carrying out their surveillance and security tasks in Pasuruan," East Java Police chief Ir. Ge. Herman Surjadi Sumawiredja told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Herman said the violation was possible because the incident happened in an area only 1.5 kilometers away from Pasuruan Police headquarters.

"There was no way the police could miss 5,000 people gathering at the place," he said.

The stampede happened when thousands of residents gathered to receive Rp. 30,000 (US$3.21) from H. Syaikhon at a mosque in the city. Twenty-one victims died and 11 hospitalized from lack of oxygen and being trampled upon.

So far one suspect has been named, the son of Syaikhon, Faruq, for his responsibility in administering the handouts.

When people die for less than US$3

By Wahyoe Boediwardhana
Source : The Jakarta Post

While Rp 20,000 (US$2.3) or even Rp 30,000 might be considered an insignificant sum, it is for that amount that 21 women -- many of them elderly and widowed -- died while rushing to receive a cash handout from a philanthropist in Pasuruan on Monday.

Many of the thousands of women vying for the donation from businessman Saykhon Fikri were poor, with some receiving cash assistance disbursed by the government to the poor since a rise in fuel prices began in 2005.

Murniati, a 55-year-old widow killed in the tragic stampede, reportedly came on foot from her village in Sawahan district, hoping to find a way to support her two children.

As her tailor's salary was not enough to feed them and finance their education, she regularly relied on help from her brothers and sisters, Murniati's older brother, Sulaiman, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. By pedicab, he brought her body home for burial.

The site of the stampede was ghastly, with torn clothes and sarongs covering the dusty faces and limbs of bodies grouped together in a silent crush. Many of the dead were too poor to have afforded shoes.

Pasuruan comprises a municipal and regency administration and is flanked by Surabaya, Malang and Trenggalek. The majority of its 1.4 million inhabitants live in poverty.

Survivors were reluctant to speak of the tragedy, with many seemingly traumatized.

"I would never allow any of my relatives to do this again. I'd rather stay poor and stick to my job as a beggar," Natikah, a 65-year-old survivor from Bugul Kidul district, told the Post on Tuesday.

The Pasuruan tragedy is not the first of its kind, with many in a crowd fainting last year as they surrounded Saykhon Fikri and his family to receive zakat mal (oligatory cash alms).

During Ramadan, rich Muslims are obliged to pay 2.5 percent of their wealth to the poor as part of the five pillars of Islamic teaching.

The philanthropist and his two sons, Vivin and Faruq, have refused to speak to the press since being declared suspects in the incident. They are being questioned at the Pasuruan police office.

Saykhon has been widely known in the city as a Muslim philanthropist, with the family annually donating portions of its wealth, amassed since 1990 from leather, car and swallows' nest businesses.

Nur Syam, rector of the Sunan Ampel Islamic Teaching Institute (IAIN) in Surabaya, said Saykhon did not allow the local government-run charity to distribute the family's tithe out of fear the funds would not reach the intended recipients.

"That is why the family distributes the tithe itself," Nur added.

Commenting on the tragedy, Bagong Suyanto, a sociologist at Airlangga University in Surabaya, said sincerity -- not desire for prestige -- should motivate philanthropists who wish to donate alms and tithes as a show of solidarity with the poor.