INDONESIAN ELECTION BODY NOT T0 POSTPONE POLLS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 24 (ANTARA) - Amid calls by certain quarters for postponement of the legislative elections planned for next April 9 in the wake of alleged marked-up fixed voters' list in East Java, the Indonesian General Elections Commission (KPU) declared on Monday it would not delay the polls.

        KPU Chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary said the commission had no reason to postpone the election only because of an allegation that the fixed voters' lists (DPT) in a number of East Java's districts had been manipulated.

        "Our DPTs are valid and accurate," Abdul Hafiz Anshary told reporters.

        Previously, the KPU had received a report on alleged manipulation of the fixed voters' lists in East Java's electoral districts of Pacitan, Ngawi, Ponorogo, Trenggalek and Magetan. However, the KPU offices for East Java and the five districts, in their investigation did not find any manipulation of voter numberd in the lists.

        In connection with the alleged mark-ups in the voters' lists, the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP) had asked the KPU to be proactive in responding to the party's finding of a marked-up voters' list.

        "PDIP appeals to the KPU and the government not to be defensive but proactive in responding to the finding to ensure the democratic implementation of the elections," deputy secretary of the party's success team, Hasto Kristiyanto, said.

        He said the party had disclosed the case based on authentic facts and field checks. The PDIP had discovered convincing facts showing a violation of Law No 10/2008 on general elections, he said. He therefore suggested that the KPU immediately issue an official list of voters so that all political parties could check it.

        "Rather than claiming that there has not been a problem it would be better if KPU conducts a cross-check in the field," he said.

        The same call was also made by Rizal Ramli, a former chief economic minister during the Abdurrahman Wahid administration. Ramli, who has also declared his intention to nominate himself as a presidential hopeful in the upcoming presidential race, said the government should check the allegation of marked-up voters' lists.

        "It should be investigated so that the alleged marked-up would not repeat itself in the coming elections. We, who are grouped in the 'Block for Change' coalition called for immediate checking of the allegation so that election fraud could be prevented," Ramli said.

        The Block for Change is a coalition of small parties which supports Rizal Ramli to be a presidential hopeful in the upcoming presidential race.

        According to Ramli, parties grouped in the Block have found many irregularities in the DPT for the upcoming elections, for example, a voter's name is included several times in the list of voters in one or several polling stations.

        In the meantime, the National Mandate Party (PAN) asked all quarters not to turn the DPT issue into a political commodity in the run-up to the legislative elections.

        "It is something normal if shortcomings are found in the DPT but it should not be used as a political commodity in the upcoming legislative elections," PAN Chairman Soetrisno Bachir said.

        He said that if the DPT issue continued to be debated it was feared that it would confuse and pose a burden to the people of East Java.

        "The case should not be used as a means of attaining a political goal while it is actually a matter of the past," Soetrisno Bachir said. He was referring to the fact that the marked-up voters' list was actually a list of voters for the recent East Java Gubernatorial elections.

        KPU said it did not find any manipulation in its investigation into the alleged manipulation of the voters numbers. According to the election body, a list of voters should bear the official signatures of the election organizers.

        Abdul Haviz Anshary said that if there were DPTs which did not bear the signatures of the organizers they must be illegal voters' lists. The official voters' lists for national and regional legislative elections have been stored in discs and distributed also to each political parties or electoral contestants.

        The legislative elections will be held on April 9, 2009 with about 12,000 candidates from 38 political parties vying for 560 House seats. The presidential election meanwhile will be held on July 8 and the newly elected president will be installed in October 2009.

        Anshary said KPU was open to inputs with regard to data contained in the DPT. If questionable data are found in the lists, KPU is open for clarifications, he said.

        Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also called on the election body to provide explanations with regard to the alleged marked-up voters' lists. He said the government also wished to encourage the General Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) and the General Elections Monitoring Committee (Panwaslu) and all parties directly concerned with the preparation of the DPT to give explanations about it to the public.

        "Tell the people what the problem really is. Do not let restlessness to occur before the election takes place. Yesterday I asked the coordinating minister for legal, security and political affairs and his staff to discuss steps we have to take to improve the DPT," the president, who held a cabinet meeting to discuss the issue on Monday, said.

        "I am monitoring the developments in the community including statements from several political figures impressing that something in the DPT had been wrong. I wish the government will be proactive. It must do what it could to KPU so that what must not happen will not happen to assure a smooth, fair and just election," the president said.***1*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/13:50/A/O001)