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Indonesia News Digest Number 28 - July 5-11, 2004
Associated Press - July 8, 2004
Jakarta -- Acehnese rebels Thursday accused Indonesian police of
torturing to death one of their district leaders, the latest
allegation of rights abuses against security forces in the war-
torn province.
Indonesian police immediately denied the accusations. The
separatist commander, identified only as M. Johan, was found dead
in a police cell Wednesday after he was arrested last week,
claimed Sofjan Dawood, a spokesman of the Free Aceh Movement.
"He was found dead ... with heavy torture marks all over his
body," Dawood said in a statement. "Arbitrary killing, rape,
intimidation and robbery have become weapons ... to subdue the
Acehnese."
Police in Aceh denied the allegations, but declined to give any
more details, including confirming whether Johan was ever in
their custody. "The information is not true and came from a
liar," said Lt. Col. Sayed Huseini.
In May 2003, Indonesia broke off internationally mediated peace
talks, launched an offensive against rebels and imposed martial
law in the province of 4.1 million people on the northern tip of
Sumatra island. It recently downgraded that to a civil emergency,
but the military maintains a massive presence there and has
continued offensive operations.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in Aceh since May 2003,
many of them civilians caught up in the fighting or gunned down
by death squads. Thousands more have been detained in overcrowded
prisons where rights groups allege torture is routinely used to
force confessions.
The Free Aceh Movement has been fighting for an independent state
in the oil-and-gas rich province since 1976. At least 13,000 have
been killed since then.
Green Left Weeky - July 7, 2004
Frances Evans -- West Papua: where the second largest rainforest
in the world is cleared for Freeport/Rio Tinto's gold and copper
mines; where one of the world's most diverse marine environments
is being polluted by BHP-Billiton's toxic tailings; where, for
more than half a century, demands for self-determination have
been met with mass human rights abuses; where a struggle has been
largely ignored by the rest of the world.
Situated just north of Queensland, West Papua is the easternmost
island under Indonesian government. A border drawn arbitrarily by
the Dutch, British and Germans during colonisation separates the
Indonesian-occupied territory from independent Papua New Guinea.
While Indonesia declared independence from the Netherlands in
1945, West Papua remained under Dutch control and preparations
were made for its independence. However, in 1962, under pressure
from a US worried about Soviet/Indonesia relations, the Dutch
ceded control to Indonesia.
In 1969, a "referendum" called "the Act of Free Choice" was held
to decide whether West Papua would remain part of Indonesia.
However, the vote was performed by 1025 government-selected
representatives to whom it had been made clear that anyone who
favoured independence would be treated as traitors. All 1,025
voted to remain with Indonesia.
In the lead up to the act, two West Papuan tribal leaders, on
their way to New York to voice complaints about the act, were
detained by Australian officials in Papua New Guinea. In West
Papua itself, 100,000 Papuans were killed by the military while
opposing the outcome of the act and 28,000 Papuans crossed the
Papua New Guinea border to seek refuge from the Indonesian
regime.
Under the Indonesian occupation, West Papua has been plundered by
numerous multinational corporations with no consultation with
indigenous communities. Freeport/Rio Tinto run the world's
largest gold mine and third-largest copper mine in West Papua.
Because Freeport is Indonesia's largest single taxpayer,
providing a fifth of Indonesia's entire tax base, the Indonesian
government has a vested interest in ensuring the success of the
mine.
In the first five years of the mine's activity, 5000 local
Amungme people were displaced. No provisions were made to
compensate the people for the loss of their land and livelihoods,
and many starved or became ill as they were moved from the
highlands to the malarial coasts. Opposition to these occurrences
regularly led to military killings of Papuans.
In 1977, the Free Papua Movement (OPM) sabotaged the Freeport
slurry pipeline, causing a halt in production and the loss of
millions of dollars. This led to an increased military presence
in the area, and attacks on local communities. Freeport financed
a large proportion of this military activity, as well as
supplying military facilities such as barracks and guard posts.
This arrangement between the military and Freeport, long derided
by human-rights groups, still continues.
The death of two US school teachers in 2002 during an ambush
attack near the Freeport headquarters brought the problems in
West Papua to the attention of international media. Indonesian
military officials immediately blamed the OPM for the attack;
however, subsequent investigations by the Indonesian police and
human rights organisations have found the military to be
responsible. The military has blocked further attempts to
investigate the incident.
The conflicts concerning West Papua's independence from Indonesia
have been relatively quiet in the international media.
Journalists and human rights advocates who have attempted to
report the grave situation in West Papua have been denied access
to the region by Indonesian bureaucrats. Many have also been
deterred by the mysterious deaths of journalists, and arrests and
torture of human rights workers.
With the advent of Washington's "war on terrorism", Indonesia has
labelled the West Papua independence movement a
separatist/terrorist movement in order to broaden support for the
campaign against it. Washington recently gave Indonesia US$50
million for "anti-terrorism operations". This will go directly to
the Indonesian police and military, whose notorious disregard for
human rights has led to countless cases of extra-judicial
military killings, disappearances, torture and unlawful arrests.
Currently, the people of West Papua along with solidarity groups
around the world are lobbying the United Nations to revoke the
Act of Free Choice.
One focus is to oppose the Australian-based corporations, such as
BHP-Billiton, Rio Tinto, Australian Defence Industries and
International Purveying Incorporated, exploiting West Papua and
profiting from the Indonesian occupation.
[Amungme community leader Mama Yusefa Alomang, who is also a
director of the Foundation Against Violence and for Human Rights
YAHAMAK, will be speaking at the July 11-17 at LaTrobe University
in Melbourne. Alomang is also the recipient of the 2001 Goldman
Environmental Prize, and the 1999 Yap Thiam Indonesian Human
Rights Award.]
West Papua
'War on terrorism'
2004 elections
Reconciliation & justice
Environment
Health & education
Aceh
Aceh rebels accuse police of killing leader
West Papua
West Papua: A struggle for human rights
Governor warns of drawn-out rebellion in Papua
Jakarta Post - July 9, 2004
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The central government's reluctance to implement Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy status for Papua might incite a separatist movement in the province, a court was told.
"The government's wishy-washy policies have made Papuans doubt the central government's commitment to developing the province," Papua Governor J.P. Salossa told the Constitutional Court on Thursday.
Salossa was testifying at a Constitutional Court hearing on the partition of Papua province in 2003.
Chairman of the Papua Legislative Council (DPRD) John Ibo had filed for judicial review of the government's decision to partition Papua into three new provinces -- Papua, Central Irian and West Irian.
The government appeared to be reluctant to implement the autonomy law to the fullest, which calls for the establishment of the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) to approve all policies issued by the provincial administration. The assembly does not exist as yet.
"I have tried to discuss it with the President, but to no avail," Salossa said.
The hearing was the culmination of a series of debates on the separation of Papua.
In a previous hearing, Jayapura Bishop Leo Labalaja also testified that all elements of Papua society would likely join hands in a movement to separate from Indonesia if the government insisted on splitting the province.
However, acting West Irian Governor Brig. Gen. (ret) Abraham Atururi, who supports the partition, claimed in another hearing that the partition would benefit West Irian Jaya residents, whose province is well-endowed with natural resources.
Papuans, Salossa said, doubted the commitment of the central government to develop the province after President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued a presidential instruction in 2003 to speed up enforcement of the law on the province's partition.
"They consider it against the law on special autonomy for Papua. If the government is afraid of the establishment of the MRP, which might lessen the authority of the central government, Papuans are ready to talk about it, but don't ignore it," he said.
The Papuan government submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs the proposal on the planned MRP but the ministry has yet to endorse it.
The central government has delayed many times the establishment of the body, apparently through fear that the assembly would encourage Papuans to demand independence.
Law No. 45/1999, which divides the province into three, was issued by the government of president B.J. Habibie in a bid to reduce calls for freedom for Papua following a meeting with some 100 Papuan leaders, who threatened to secede from the country.
Unfortunately, legislators involved in deliberations on Law No. 21/2001 failed to include an article stipulating that Law No. 45/1999 was not legally binding.
The Constitutional Court, which started to hear the case months ago, has not yet been able to reach a conclusion.
"We must be very careful in handling this -- it's a delicate matter," Constitutional Court President Jimly Asshidiqie said.
He revealed that Papuans had placed high hopes on the government when it revoked Law No. 45/1999 on the separation of Papua into three provinces. "They believed that the law would support their desire for self-development, making decisions for their own good," Salossa said.
Documents show US backed sham Papua referendum
Associated Press - July 10, 2004
Jakarta -- The United States supported former dictator Suharto when he incorporated West Papua into Indonesia in 1969 after a self-determination vote later dismissed as a sham, newly declassified documents show. "You should tell Suharto that we understand the problems they face in West Papua," US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger wrote President Richard Nixon before Nixon's July 1969 trip to Indonesia, according to the US State Department documents.
The documents were received Saturday from the Washington-based National Security Archive think tank.
Nixon's trip coincided with an Indonesian-run vote in which West Papua tribal and community leaders -- hand-picked by Jakarta -- unanimously chose to join Indonesia.
Improving relations with Indonesia's authoritarian regime was then a US priority. Kissinger characterized Suharto as a "moderate military man ... committed to progress and reform."
In the newly declassified papers, Kissinger advised the president that "you should not raise this [West Papua] issue" with Suharto, "except to note US sympathy with Indonesia's concerns."
The vote, used to justify Suharto's annexation of West Papua, is now generally viewed as a sham. Top UN officials who supervised Indonesia's takeover have admitted that most West Papuans were intentionally excluded.
Human rights groups say at least 100,000 people have died since 1969 in continuing resistance to West Papua's integration. The sparsely populated province is rich in natural resources.
Successive US administrations have backed Jakarta in its insistence that West Papua remain Indonesian.
| 'War on terrorism' |
Agence France Presse - July 9, 2004
An Indonesian court has jailed an Islamic militant for three years for having attended a meeting which plotted the deadly Marriott hotel bombing in August last year, an official said.
South Jakarta district court found Samhuri "guilty of attending several meetings" held by Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to determine the bombing target and plan the attack, said Adi, a court official.
Eleven Indonesians, mostly hotel security guards and taxi drivers, and a Dutch banker were killed in the attack on the US- franchised hotel in Jakarta.
The Al Qaeda-linked JI staged the hotel blast as well as the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people and numerous other attacks.
Several other people are on trial, or have been jailed, for the Marriott bombing and 33 people have been sentenced for the Bali blast including three on death row.
Malaysian explosives experts Noordin Mohammad Top and Azahari Husin are still being hunted for their roles in both the Bali and Marriott attacks. Police believe they are still hiding in Indonesia.
| 2004 elections |
Jakarta Post - July 9, 2004
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The pair of Megawati Soekarnoputri and Hasyim Muzadi collected and spent the highest amount of money on the July 5 presidential election, while the Hamzah Haz-Agum Gumelar ticket received and spent the least.
According to balance sheets of campaign funds submitted to the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Thursday, Megawati and Hasyim received a total of Rp 104.86 billion and spent Rp 85.94 billion, while Hamzah and Agum collected and spent Rp 16.24 billion.
Four of the five pairs contesting the July 5 election submitted their financial reports to the KPU on Thursday, the deadline for candidates to surrender the balance sheets of their campaign funds.
The Wiranto-Solahuddin Wahid pair failed to beat the 6 p.m. deadline.
"When we contacted the secretary of (Wiranto's success) team at 5 p.m., he told us that they were on the way to the KPU," KPU member Mulyana W. Kusuma said on Thursday.
He said the commission would wait for the report's submission.
Under the presidential election law, candidates have to submit their financial reports to the KPU three days after the date of the polls at the latest.
Mulyana, however, did not reveal the sources of the funds, or what the candidates had spent the money on.
He said the commission would hand over the reports to five public accounting firms the day after tomorrow at the latest.
The five are B. Bangun and Partner; Baehaqi and Partners; Bambang, Sucipto Ngumar and Partners; Tjahjo, Machdjud Modopuro and Partners; and Rodi Kartamulja, Budiman and Partners.
"The law says that the KPU must hand over the reports to appointed public accounting firms two days after the teams submit them. The offices must finish their work within 15 days," he said.
The KPU must publicize the audit results three days after obtaining them from the public accounting firms.
The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) said on Thursday that it would monitor the audit by requesting access from both the KPU and the Indonesia Accountant Association (IAI), and cooperating with poll watchdogs, such as the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) and Indonesia Transparency International (TII).
"It is unfortunate that the law does not stipulate sanctions for those who do not submit their reports on time. So if one decides not to submit it, he or she does not breach any law," said Panwaslu chairman Komaruddin Hidayat.
Jakarta Post - July 9, 2004
Wimar Witoelar, Jakarta -- If the trend emerging from the vote tally continues, in two months time we shall have to choose between Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Megawati Soekarnoputri.
That will be difficult, quite like the proverbial choice between a rock and a hard place. In this hasty world, when people want to look at complex issues like accounting or computer programming, they can run to a good bookstore and find An Idiot's Guide to ... just about anything.
I am sure no one reading this is an idiot, but sometimes I feel like one. So here, then, is "an idiot's guide to the election", complete with numbers.
Susilo has declined from a polled high of 45 percent to a currently estimated 34 percent. He did not reach the 50 percent mark and maybe in the final round will still not pass it, making him an early-round favorite who got beaten in a runoff upset.
These are all "ifs" of course, since he still remains the favorite as overall winner. There are several reasons for these reservations about Susilo's chances:
1. The sympathy factor is receding. Susilo zoomed to popularity on the wave of public sympathy for his perceived ill-treatment by President Megawati and her husband. Now things have turned around. There is sympathy for the constantly denigrated Megawati while Susilo is flying high, looking aloof, not saying anything and looking quite smug.
2. His bandwagon has been leaped upon by New Order and military types, while known reformers and activists have avoided him. He is still the choice of the urban middle class and moderates, and certainly the international community, but Susilo would be a more compelling choice if he could present himself as the hope of the future rather than as a comforter for the status quo.
3. Susilo is basically a decent person and presents a clean image. However, more people now realize he is ex-military, a top general in the Soeharto government. Since Wiranto joined the race, people started to fear that we might be headed back to the bad old days with the military controlling the country. Susilo gives little comfort against that possibility. It would help if he were able to attract more inspiring people. And stopped acting like a New Order apparatchik, especially. It was frightening to see the television coverage of the birthday party where he and his family wore batik costumes, exactly as in Soeharto times. A nice general as president? Djvu 1966. And this time Golkar would not have to be invented from scratch.
At present, Megawati is up from low estimates to a current level that is hovering around 26 percent, higher than her party's percentage. Obviously, she is not to be dismissed, and the reasons are:
1. The very denigration she has suffered has created a backlash sympathy factor. When she failed to meet the three- minute limitation in her speech during the television debate, the moderator sternly reprimanded her. Many reacted with sympathy for "the nice lady who was trying to be a good speaker".
2. Her legendary, simplistic public appearance does not look too bad now when compared with that of rivals who have even less content than she.
3. While Megawati still does not inspire people who think, at least she does not evoke fear of hard-line policies the way her military rivals give the public cold feet.
4, People are still doubtful of her ability to lead an effective government, but irritation at her nonperformance reached its peak some time ago and now the backswing is giving her momentum, especially if she keeps getting good advice to improve and keeps her liabilities out of the public eye.
5. She has escaped miraculously from rejection so far because none of her rivals had the sense to attack her government's record. The first round of the campaign had an eerie atmosphere of clubby togetherness. It was as if everybody promised not to attack each other in return for favors later on. Now, in the final round of the campaign, there is little need to worry about her government record since Susilo and Kalla represented substantial parts of the government, and are equally responsible for the government's nonperformance.
What this newspaper has said is true -- that Susilo faces an uphill campaign. And Megawati has escaped the worst. As both candidates have less than 40 percent, the determining factor will be the coalitions that are constructed around the candidates in the next two months. This is quite complicated. But in this "idiot's guide", what is the prediction?
1. Susilo and Mega to go into the final round, with the margin between them reducing. The decisive factor will be whether antimilitary sentiments are aroused.
2. Susilo is favored by the social middle class and business people who do not have a strong urge for reform, rather, prefer a large measure of the status quo to continue. But cold feet and memories of the New Order might make people opt for Megawati who, in computer parlance, is a "known problem". No reformer by any stretch of the imagination, she could still be forced into taking positive steps.
For the public at large, neither candidate represents hope for improvement. The only and real hope lies in the strengthening of civil society and the emergence of new leaders.
It does not really matter too much who becomes president. The really good news is that we are showing to all nations the largest, most direct, most peaceful election in the history of the world. If that is maintained, the real winners are the people. The writer is founder of InterMatrix Communications. He can be reached at wimar@perspektif.net
Jakarta Post - July 9, 2004
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta -- The Jakarta stock market fell on Thursday, with some analysts saying an key factor was fears "market favorite" Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono might fail to win the president's job.
The Jakarta Composite Index ended lower by 1.54 percent or 11.92 points, to 759.742, on volume of 1.72 billion shares traded worth Rp 908.78 billion (US$101 million).
Stock analyst Fendi A. Susiyanto of BNI Securities said the decline was attributable to profit-taking by investors following concerns Susilo might lose the runoff on September 20 to incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri or Wiranto.
"Political jitters are one of several key factors that caused the profit taking. Susilo has been perceived as market-friendly not only because of his economic programs but also because of his relatively clean record," Fendi said.
Fendi said the decline came following fears of a possible coalition between political heavyweights the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to support Susilo's competitor in the second round of voting in September.
Golkar and the PDI-P are the two largest factions in the House of Representatives and their respective candidates, Wiranto and Megawati, are fighting it out for second place to contest Susilo in September. As vote counting continues, Susilo's ongoing 6 to 8 percent lead over the other candidates means he is almost assured of a place in the runoff.
Dealers also said the failure of Susilo to win a majority of the vote in the first round, which would have ruled out the need for a runoff, had prolonged the political uncertainty in the country.
Aside from political concerns, Fendi said the market had experienced a technical correction as a result of consecutive gains in the market during the past several days, which caused several bluechip stocks to become overvalued.
Shares of state telecommunication firm PT Telkom were down Rp 200 to Rp 7,650; cigarette producer PT Gudang Garam declined by RP 750 to Rp 14,200; its rival PT HM Sampoerna dropped by Rp 100 to Rp 5,550; and automotive kingpin PT Astra International closed lower by Rp 200 to Rp 5,650.
Other stock analysts blamed the decline in the stock market on the recent slight increase in Bank Indonesia's benchmark interest rate to 7.37 percent from 7.34 percent, which prompted several investors to convert their stock portfolios into Bank Indonesia SBI promissory notes. "But in the long-term, the bourse will remain firm," said a broker with a foreign-based securities firm.
The analysts recommended investors kept shares of mining and agricultural companies in their long-term portfolios, following the surge of several mining and agricultural commodities in the international market, such as nickel, tin, copper, coal, crude palm oil and rubber.
Analysts said the bourse's fundamentals would remain strong, with an expected supporting level at 750 and a resistance level of 786.
On the currency front, the rupiah closed at Rp 9,000 against the US dollar, up slightly from Rp 9,005 on Wednesday.
Jakarta Post - July 9, 2004
Kurniawan Hari and M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- The fact that most members of political parties did not support the candidate backed by their party is evidence of the country's political maturity, analysts said on Thursday.
They said that party coalitions would, therefore, not ensure the victory of a particular candidate in the September 20 runoff.
"Voters are able to make their own decisions, they have their own preferences," said Eep Saefulloh Fatah of the University of Indonesia (UI).
Similarly, analyst Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said the July 5 election proved that political leaders like Akbar Tandjung, Wiranto or Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, were unable to control their followers. Survey results released on Wednesday showed that about 57 percent of respondents who were members of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) toed the party line and voted for Amien Rais, while 24 percent said they voted for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
A few days before the PKS announced its official endorsement of Amien, the party was said to have been torn between Amien and Wiranto. However, it turned out that only nine percent of its members said they voted for Wiranto.
Of members of Nahdlatul Ulama, 33 percent said they voted for Wiranto -- largely due to the endorsement of the National Awakening Party (PKB), which is closely associated with the NU -- while 32 percent said they voted for Susilo.
Of respondents who are members of Muhammadiyah -- the second largest Muslim organization after the NU -- 54 percent followed their leaders' endorsement to vote for Amien, while 21 percent voted for Susilo.
The survey involved 4,511 respondents across the country on election day.
Eep also said that political machines were proven unable to direct support toward a particular candidate.
Coalitions between parties to face the runoff would only be effective in establishing a strong government, Eep added.
Indria concurred, saying that coalitions built by political parties should not be aimed at securing the presidency.
"The coalitions will not be effective. The people will not follow the instructions of their leaders, (coalitions) should be designed to win support for House of Representatives members," Indria said.
The two suggested that the newly elected president coalesce with other political parties that had secured seats in the House. Otherwise they would face a tough challenge in ruling the country, they said.
Eep said the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla ticket would probably face a harder challenge in the runoff as the Wiranto- Solahuddin Wahid duo -- backed by the Golkar Party and the PKB -- would likely coalesce with the Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi ticket, nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
"Golkar and the PDI-P have a tradition of coalition in the past three years," he argued.
He said that Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung would unlikely form a coalition with Susilo, because the latter was one of those opposed to the Golkar convention last year to select its presidential candidate.
Jakarta Post - July 8, 2004
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- While local observers declined to call the July 5 polls free and fair, the Carter Center and other foreign monitoring teams said on Wednesday that they were impressed by the way in which the election had proceeded.
"It was an honest, fair and safe election," former US president Jimmy Carter, who chairs the center, announced after a 15-minute meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
He said, despite some minor problems, the Carter Center considered that the electoral process was honest and transparent, overall. "We are particularly grateful that it has been safe," Carter added.
Similar praise was aired by the delegation of the European Union (EU), which also met with Megawati on Wednesday, and the Washington-based National Democratic Institute (NDI).
"The presidency takes the opportunity to commend the people and government of Indonesia for the generally peaceful and open manner in which this round has taken place, and expresses confidence that these elections will contribute to the deepening of the democratic process in Indonesia," said a statement from the Dutch government, as president of the EU, released to The Jakarta Post.
NDI director Paul Rowland also lauded the peaceful election. "The KPU (General Elections Commission) and political parties should be congratulated. But, Indonesians deserve much credit as they had the responsibility to show their leaders where they want to go," he said.
He said the direct election was a remarkable indication of progress in Indonesia, which has been struggling for six years in its transition to democracy.
"This is the largest direct presidential election in the world. It is the first for Indonesia and ran quite smoothly -- so far," Rowland said.
Carter also said the KPU deserved credit for undertaking such a huge task. However, he criticized the commission over the double-puncture debacle, which spoiled the positive mood of the election. "The commission made a serious mistake in that it did not anticipate the problem of dual punctures," he said.
Carter said the election marked another important step in Indonesia's democratic consolidation. "In just a few years, Indonesia has made a dramatic transition from authoritarian rule to democracy," he added.
The Carter Center said it would issue a more comprehensive report on the overall electoral process. The reports of local independent observers, however, were not so glowing.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), the People's Network for Voter Education (JPPR) and the People's Network for Elections Monitoring (JAMPPI) claimed the electoral process was far from free and fair.
"One of many indications of whether an election is fair is that equal treatment is given to candidates at polling stations. We do not believe that transpired," Cetro executive director Smita Notosusanto said.
In a joint statement, the independent observers said irregularities had also marred the July 5 election.
In their preliminary analysis, the election teams discovered a great number of unregistered voters, who poll committees (PPS) allowed to vote.
Cetro, in its observation, found that 32 percent of voters in over 1,400 polling stations were permitted to vote, even though they were not registered.
The JPPR found that, at over 1,200 polling stations, 10 percent of voters were "intimidated" by other voters, campaign teams and poll committees.
The three poll watchdogs had deployed over 130,000 observers to monitor the presidential election across the country.
Jakarta Post - July 9, 2004
Jakarta Post, Jakarta -- Election frontrunners Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Megawati Soekarnoputri are now climbing over each other to woo the Golkar Party in order gain much-needed support for the likely runoff poll in September.
A close aide to Susilo told The Jakarta Post on Thursday the retired general's campaign team had approached several parties to look into possible coalition-building, with Golkar at the top of the list. "We have approached several parties and Golkar was the first party that we talked to," the aide said on Thursday evening. He did not say when the meeting with Golkar took place.
Building a coalition with Golkar would be an important step to winning the September 20 run-off election and to forming a strong government afterwards.
Golkar, which was earlier blamed for the country's economic collapse, has the most extensive campaign network. It was the highest polling party in the April 5 legislative election, with 129 members elected to the House of Representatives (DPR).
A coalition with Golkar would be especially important for a Susilo-Jusuf Kalla government, which needs support from a major political party if it is to rule effectively. Susilo's Democratic Party only won 54 seats in the House on 7 percent of the vote. Analysts say it helps Susilo that Kalla is a Golkar member.
Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), meanwhile, has also held meetings with Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP), and the country's second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadyah.
A PDI-P source told the Post his party had met with Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung and his colleagues earlier this week to seek their support.
During the meeting Akbar had shown eagerness to forge a coalition between the two parties, he said.
Golkar's candidate Wiranto is currently trailing in third place in the vote counting.
Megawati's campaign team also met with Hamzah Haz of the United Development Party (PPP) to discuss coalition building and Megawati's running mate Hasyim Muzadi has held talks with Muhammadiyah chairman Syafi'i Ma'arif.
"Megawati is also scheduled to meet Amien sometime next week to discuss the same issue," a Megawati campaign team member said.
On Thursday, Akbar said Golkar was always ready to form a coalition with any party, regardless of whether Wiranto entered the second round.
"We are ready [to talk] but there is still a likelihood we may go through to the second round. Until the result is clear, we will not make any further move," Akbar said after attending an anti- drug event at the State Palace.
The event was the first time Akbar, in his capacity as House Speaker, had appeared at the palace in the past year.
National Awakening Party deputy chairman Mahfud M.D. said the party was considering several coalition options if its presidential candidate Wiranto failed to make the runoff.
"If we look into the concept of good governance, we'd prefer to join a coalition with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of the Democratic Party. But we can't ignore the fact that PKB has strong emotional ties with Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle because its leader, Megawati Soekarnoputri, picked Hasyim Muzadi of Nahdlatul Ulama as her running mate," Mahfud told the Post.
Australian Financial Review - July 8, 2004
Andrew Burrell, Jakarta -- Indonesia's former military chief, Wiranto, tried yesterday to pin the blame for his probable election defeat on Western poll observers, including a group headed by former US president Jimmy Carter.
In a bizarre statement released to the media, Mr Wiranto's campaign office suggested that foreign institutions, including the respected Carter Centre, had been able to influence the result of Monday's presidential election.
The desperate move suggests Mr Wiranto's advisers may have privately conceded defeat at the hands of President Megawati Soekarnoputri and former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who will both advance to a second round of voting in September.
Mr Wiranto, an indicted war criminal who is backed by the giant Golkar party and is rumoured to have been funded by the former ruling Soeharto family, is facing a loss that would end his political career.
The statement came after one of Mr Wiranto's senior advisers, former general Fachrul Razi, told The Australian Financial Review he did not believe the results of a national quick count released by the Washington-based National Democratic Institute, showing Mr Wiranto in third place.
He said these results were only believed by "bules" -- the sometimes condescending word used by Indonesians to describe Westerners.
The Wiranto statement alleges that Western observers who came to Indonesia for the vote had engaged in "strange conduct" at polling stations outside the major cities before and during Monday's vote.
Without referring to specifics, the statement claimed this operation was conducted "silently" and was allowed by the Indonesian authorities to become "out of control".
The statement also claimed that similar "operations" had taken place in East Timor in 1999 -- when East Timorese voted to break away from Indonesia - and in the 1999 parliamentary election in Indonesia when Golkar was thrashed.
However, it said this conduct did not occur at parliamentary elections held in April, in which Golkar won most votes.
When contacted about the statement, an official in Mr Wiranto's media centre, Despen Ompusunggu, said it was not the official attitude of the campaign team but was based on reports received from supporters in the regions.
The head of Mr Wiranto's campaign team, Slamet Effendi Yusuf, said Golkar's own manual count showed late yesterday that Mr Wiranto and Mrs Megawati were neck-and-neck.
Partial results released yesterday by the General Election Commission showed Mr Yudhoyono clearly leading the count, with 33.7per cent, ahead of Mrs Megawati (26.5) and Mr Wiranto (22.1), with about half the vote counted.
An administrative bungle led to millions of votes being wrongly declared invalid. Indonesian voters marked their ballot papers on Monday using a nail to pierce a hole in the box next to their preferred candidate. But because they received the papers folded in half, with the names of the candidates on the top half, many ended up punching two holes.
Many polling officials decided these votes were invalid, but the General Election Commission later issued a decree that they must be counted as legal.
Many polling stations did not receive notice of the decree, and some booths had already closed and completed their count.
Antara - July 9, 2004
Jakarta -- The conduct of Indonesia's first direct presidential election has enabled Indonesians to cast their votes freely and fairly, an Australian election observer said here Thursday.
"The election was another significant step in Indonesia's democratic transition," leader of the delegation of Australian election observers, Chris Gallus MP, said.
She said the Indonesian government and the General Elections Commission (KPU) should be congratulated for the effective conduct of the polls.
"It has been a privilege to observe the presidential election and to see the Indonesian democratic process at work," she said.
The delegation, she added, also appreciated KPU's effort to address concerns over the question of invalid votes.
"The election proceeded peacefully. Our team, which covered a number of polling stations in seven provinces, did not consider minor incidents observed and reported as having affected the overall national integrity of the electoral process," she said.
In undertaking their task, the Australian observers supported the efforts of Indonesian election monitors and worked alongside other international observers, including those from the United States, Japan and the European Union.
Australia has provided Aus$15 million in assistance for the 2004 legislative and presidential elections.
In particular, it provided Aus$2 million in assistance to the People's Votes Education Network (JPPR).
The JPPR had deployed more than 100,000 volunteers and community-based election monitors nationwide for the presidential polls.
Australia is planning to send another delegation to observe the second round of Indonesia's presidential polls in September.
Agence France Presse - July 9, 2004
Ex-general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has kept his lead over closest challenger Megawati Sukarnoputri, with about two-thirds of the vote tallied from Indonesia's first direct presidential election.
Current president Megawati remained ahead of third-placed Wiranto, a former armed forces chief who is standing for the largest party Golkar.
Megawati, who has come back strongly after being written off by polls and pundits earlier this year, seemed set to battle her former security minister Yudhoyono in a runoff on September 20 between the top two vote-getters.
Both camps were lobbying for the backing of Golkar, the political vehicle of former dictator Suharto, or of other parties before the runoff.
Golkar deputy chairman Bomer Pasaribu, quoted by Koran Tempo newspaper, said Yudhoyono or Megawati must form a coalition with his party if they want to win the runoff.
Megawati's running-mate Hasyim Muzadi, quoted by Media Indonesia, said he would soon begin lobbying for backing from the National Awakening Party (PKB), which finished third in the April parliamentary election in terms of vote numbers.
But PKB deputy chairman Mahfud Mahmuddin was quoted by the same newspaper as saying rationally it should form a coalition with Yudhoyono.
Whoever wins the runoff will need to build a coalition of some sort to push legislation through parliament. Even Golkar will have only 128 seats in the new 550-member house.
But some commentators said the current focus on coalition- building is premature and even pointless, since an increasingly independent-minded electorate voted for personality rather than on party lines in Monday's election.
"Coalition? Who needs one?" the Jakarta Post headlined its editorial. The present horse-trading (or cow-trading, to use the Indonesian expression) "shows that our political leaders have not reached the same rationality and maturity that voters showed on Monday," it said.
The Post said the right time to build coalitions is after the runoff and dismissed the current moves "as silly little games." Turnout in the election -- another milestone in Indonesia's democratisation after the fall of army-backed strongman Suharto in 1998 -- was estimated at 82 percent or about 125-126 million.
A candidate would need to get at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff. The winner of the runoff was anyone's guess. Commentator Wimar Witoelar, in a Post article, said Yudhoyono is still the favourite but faces an uphill campaign.
"Susilo is basically a decent person and presents a clean image," wrote Witoelar, a former spokesman for President Abdurrahman Wahid. "However, more people now realise he is ex-military, a top general in the Suharto government." He said Megawati still does not inspire thinking people but "at least she does not evoke fear of hardline policies the way her military rivals give the public cold feet."
Bloomberg News - July 9, 2004
Jakarta -- Indonesia's military said yesterday it had sacked an officer and suspended 21 military drivers for involvement in suspected vote-rigging at a major Islamic boarding school.
The military headquarters said in a statement the officer, who heads the headquarters' transportation department, and the drivers had violated orders to stay neutral in Monday's presidential election.
Supporters of former general Wiranto alleged yesterday that there were irregularities in the vote count, raising the prospect they may challenge the final results in court.
Mr Wiranto's complaints centre on a ruling by the General Elections Commission that ordered officials to include millions of ballots initially deemed invalid, his deputy campaign chief Rully Chairul Azwar said.
The recount was ordered after millions of voters had punched ballot papers when they were folded in half, meaning there were two holes.
Straits Times - July 9, 2004
Jakarta -- Senior party executives and campaign managers for the top three presidential hopefuls are wrestling with coalition building for the expected Sept 20 run-off election.
With all the horse trading going on, analysts say front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono faces an even tougher fight in the second round.
With just over half of the vote counted, Mr Bambang is leading with 34 per cent. President Megawati Sukarnoputri is second with 26 per cent, followed by former general Wiranto with 22 per cent.
But in the minds of many, Mr Bambang -- despite the momentum of a first-round victory -- could be facing a combined offensive from the country's strongest political organisations.
He will face an uphill battle, said Mr Entjeng Sobirin of the Institute for Social and Economic Research (LP3ES).
"He has to develop a new strategy because he simply doesn't have the political machinery to compete," he added.
But Mr Sofyan Djalil of the Democratic Party ruled out the possibility of Mr Bambang building a 'grand coalition', saying any alliance 'would not be comprised of many big elements'.
He added that Mr Bambang's government, which will be built on a small coalition, will be ready to face strong opposition from the House of Representatives.
Golkar and Ms Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) are the two largest factions in the House with 129 and 109 seats respectively.
Golkar executive Bomer Pasaribu said that in the event of a Wiranto defeat, a coalition with the PDI-P was one of the scenarios being looked at. "But of course, we would have to look at how Gus Dur [Mr Abdurrahman Wahid] stands on the issue of endorsing Megawati," he added.
The former president still wields considerable influence among the millions in Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, especially in East Java.
Political analysts Syamsuddin Haris and Daniel Sparringa said Mr Bambang would be facing a major coalition of Golkar and PDI-P heavyweights.
And apart from Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, presidential candidate Amien Rais is likely to sway towards Ms Megawati as well, said Mr Syamsuddin. "Negotiations with Megawati are likely to be more amiable than with Bambang, who from the start has tended to ward off other parties," he added.
But despite the politicking of the party elite, voters in the end could still buck the trend of established political deals, said analyst Daniel Sparringa.
As the legislative and presidential elections have shown, Indonesian voters are gradually moving away from traditional ethnic lines, rendering preconceived political allegiances obsolete, he pointed out.
Straits Times - July 9, 2004
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- The jockeying and deal-making for Round 2 of Indonesia's presidential election has begun, even before the results of Monday's polls are in.
With over 40 per cent of the ballots counted yesterday, former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was still ahead with 34 per cent of the vote, followed by President Megawati Sukarnoputri (27 per cent), former military commander Wiranto (22 per cent), National Assembly chairman Amien Rais (14 per cent) and Vice-President Hamzah Haz (3 per cent).
With those figures in mind, Indonesia's politicians are scrambling to forge alliances ahead of the run-off election in September, which would see the top two contenders out of the field of five fighting to be No 1.
Golkar, the biggest party in parliament, has emerged as the crucial pivot in the calculations.
Buoyed by the better-than-expected showing, the Megawati camp is planning for an eventual confrontation with Mr Bambang in September. Her party members are sending out feelers for a grand coalition involving Golkar, her Indonesian Democratic Party- Struggle (PDI-P) and Muslim-based parties such as the United Development Party (PPP) and the Nation Awakening Party (PKB).
A PDI-P legislator involved in backroom dealings with Golkar told The Straits Times: 'It is going to be a tough battle with Bambang. The only way we can beat him is to get all the other major parties on our side.' Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung is understood to be agreeable to such an alliance, with his party said to have been offered 40 per cent of the Cabinet seats if it backs Ms Megawati.
A more important consideration for Mr Akbar is retaining control of Golkar, which is likely to be threatened if Mr Wiranto, a party rival, comes to power. The Akbar backers also fear that if Mr Bambang wins, he would try to secure control of Golkar through his running mate Jusuf Kalla, a party cadre.
Meanwhile, Mr Bambang is also eyeing the Golkar vote. Besides wooing Muslim-based parties, he is also pursuing a divide-and- conquer strategy with Golkar and PDI-P, reaching out to disaffected elements in both camps. His targets include Wiranto supporters in Golkar at odds with Mr Akbar for siding with the President.
With internal splits, Mr Akbar may not be able to persuade all his party branches to support Ms Megawati. Likewise, many PDI-P members object to a union with Golkar and have threatened to join Mr Bambang.
Looking ahead, observers say the September poll showdown could feature a revived Megawati camp pitting an alliance of parties, however fractured, against Mr Bambang, who is leveraging on his popularity that cuts across party and ideological lines.
Said political observer Jusuf Wanandi of the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies: 'It might end up being a battle of the giants. Megawati is a sleeping giant that has woken up and Bambang is a giant that refuses to go to sleep.'
Straits Times - July 9, 2004
Robert Go, Jakarta -- Judging by statements from international and domestic monitors of Monday's historic presidential election, two completely different events seem to have been observed.
The Carter Center, for instance, with former US president Jimmy Carter and a total of 60 monitors on the ground, said: 'It was an honest, fair and safe election.' The vote marked 'another important step' in Indonesia's democratic consolidation, they said.
The European Union, with 232 observers covering a sampling of Indonesia's 575,000 polling centres, stopped short of calling Monday's process 'free and fair'.
But its statement yesterday was softer compared to critiques from domestic groups, some of whom gave the first round of the election a barely passing grade of six out of 10.
The differences between domestic and foreign groups' assessments might be due to technical factors. There were hundreds of thousands of domestic monitors covering a wider range of locations than the mere hundreds mobilised by international parties.
Political reasons could also be in play. Analysts said foreign groups were less likely to be harsh on the Indonesian process due to fears of angering the government. Those who had helped to fund the election process could also want to avoid criticising an exercise into which they had poured millions of dollars.
Mr Gunawan Hidayat, head of the People's Voter Education Network (JPPR), said there had been "some positive developments from the past" on Monday but he quickly added that problems seen during the vote were serious enough to affect the quality of results: "We just can't call it free and fair."
The group had more than 100,000 people in all 32 provinces of the country, covering roughly one-fifth of all polling stations. Problems they reported included lack of access facilities and aid for the handicapped, intimidation tactics in the days leading up to election day and as voters made their way to polling centres on Monday.
People are also concerned about the recount of ballot papers, something made necessary after millions of voters did not unfold their ballot slips and ended up punching two holes instead of one. These ballots were initially deemed invalid but the General Elections Commission (KPU) reversed its decision after polling stations reported having received millions of such votes.
But the most serious issue was that many locations allowed unregistered voters to take part in the election. Ink used by elections-organiser KPU to mark the fingers of people who had voted on Monday was meant to last three days -- to stop people from voting twice or more. Reports are coming in that poor- quality substitute ink was used nationwide and people could simply wash off marks received at polling centres.
Mr Hadar Gumay of the Centre for Electoral Reform (Cetro) said both the fact that unregistered people were allowed to vote and that the ink was less permanent meant there was a possibility of people having voted at several different places during the same day.
"We have to consider the possibility that this kind of tampering took place, something that mars the quality of the process. As long as the picture is unclear on these kinds of issues, we can't honestly say this was free and fair," he said.
Both Cetro and JPPR have been commended by international groups as independent and non-partisan players in Indonesia's electoral process. Domestic observers said their assessment of the election was more reliable than international assessments. Mr Hadar also said that political factors -- including financing -- might have coloured foreign assessments.
Melbourne Age - July 8, 2004
Damien Kingsbury -- It was little surprise that the former lieutenant-general, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was returned as the most favoured candidate in the first round of Indonesia's presidential elections on Monday, even if his vote was well below the most recent polls. But in Indonesian politics, things are not always how they appear.
Yudhoyono was polling about 45 per cent before Monday but, based on a nationwide sample by the National Democratic Institute, he looks to have secured about 34 per cent of the actual vote. This means that, despite some predictions of an outright victory in the first round, Yudhoyono will have to go to Indonesia's second presidential round in September.
Yudhoyono's slippage reflected his lack of reach into the villages, where most voters still live. This is because Yudhoyono does not control a party machine that can match either former general Wiranto's Golkar -- the party of former president Soeharto -- or Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
It was also widely expected that the incumbent, Megawati Soekarnoputri, would lose votes in this election, based on the polls but, more importantly, on the results from the legislative elections in April.
NDI's figures show her just 1 per cent ahead of Wiranto, on 24 per cent, and with a margin of error of just over 1 per cent. That is, the race between Megawati and Wiranto is neck and neck.
Wiranto has climbed from about 5 per cent popularity only a few weeks ago, reflecting the efficacy of a party machine and vote- buying.
If Megawati stays ahead of Wiranto, after dropping out, he will probably allocate his support, and that of Golkar, to Yudhoyono, who will consequently romp home in September. However, if Wiranto edges ahead of Megawati, as third-placegetter, she is unlikely to support her former politics and security minister, Yudhoyono, and will probably back Wiranto. If this happens, Wiranto will be a real chance for the presidency.
International opinion has Wiranto as an undesirable president because, as commander in chief of the Indonesian army, he oversaw the death and destruction in East Timor in 1999. He also retains close links to deposed president Soeharto and his family, although he has denied having his election campaign funded by them.
Megawati was widely regarded as incompetent, which she continued to demonstrate in the lead-up to the election. For example, she cited as a highlight of her economic management a Filipino beer company opening a branch in Indonesia. And her calls for Indonesians to vote for the prettiest candidate only earned her derision.
Most foreign governments, including Australia's, are unusual in the openness of their support for Yudhoyono, who is Western- educated, a moderately competent manager, and was seen as a military reformer.
Yet Yudhoyono enjoys the backing of Indonesia's two most radical Islamic parties, the Justice and Welfare Party and the Star and Moon Party, which have links to Islamic militias. And he is also supported by the hawks in the Indonesian military (TNI).
It has also been claimed that Yudhoyono's campaign was bankrolled by a major businessman, himself accused of various illegal practices and who is the key financier of the TNI. That is to say, even though Yudhoyono is touted by international governments as the cleanest, most reformist candidate, this may not quite be the case.
In the war-torn province of Aceh, too, Yudhoyono carries a reputation for overseeing the May 2003 declaration of martial law, in which tens of thousands of troops entered the province ahead of widespread killing, torture and destruction. Reports from North Aceh on election day said soldiers had been rounding up villagers who were reluctant to vote, forcing them to the polling booths and telling them to vote for Yudhoyono.
But regardless of who wins the second round of elections in September, Indonesia's crippling problems will remain. Any future Indonesian president will have to face high and growing unemployment and poverty, a business and investment climate that remains a shambles, active radical Islam and, not least, a cohesive and politically resurgent TNI.
Senior TNI officers may have their favourite candidates but, in the final analysis, they know their political strength lies in institutional unity, and it is this that will underpin any new president.
[Dr Damien Kingsbury, who was in Indonesia for the elections, is senor lecturer in international development at Deakin University and author or editor of several books on Indonesian politics.
Jakarta Post - July 9, 2004
Bandung/Indramayu/Jakarta -- The West Java General Elections Commission (KPUD) established on Thursday a fact-finding team to investigate alleged election violations at the massive Al-Zaytun Islamic school complex, where tens of thousands of people from Jakarta were bused in to cast their votes.
The team was assigned to carry out their task within three days to collect data on alleged mobilization of thousands of people, all of whom voted for the Wiranto-Salahuddin pairing, which grabbed all 24,794 votes cast in the 83 polling stations inside the school complex.
Aside from the Wiranto-Salahuddin pair, the other candidates on Monday were Megawati Soekarnoputri and Hasyim Muzadi, Amien Rais and Siswono Yudohusodo, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla, and Hamzah Haz and running mate Agum Gumelar.
There were only 11,000 voters in the complex during the April 5 legislative elections. According to KPUD member Ferry Kurnia Rizkiansyah, the team was still awaiting for a recommendation from the West Java Election Supervisory Commission (Panwaslu) to decide whether or not the votes should be declared invalid.
"We [members of the team] will check out whether the voters were registered to vote with the local polling station committee (PPS) in Mekarjaya subdistrict, Indramayu regency -- where the Islamic school complex is located.
"That is why we need to investigate the irregularities so that we can explain it to Panwaslu. But we must emphasize that we will not enter the political area during the investigation because it is not our authority," Ferry said in a press conference at KPUD office on Jl. Garut, Bandung. A parallel investigation would also be carried out by the National Police, who formed a special team on Thursday.
"It is possible that they all had legitimate voter's cards but why did they decide to vote at the Al-Zaytun complex? Perhaps they falsified the cards. We are now asking the KPU and Panwaslu for clarification," said the National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono. "If Panwaslu decides the incident was a criminal act, we [the police] will investigate the case further," he added.
The possibility of scandal came to light after Panwaslu disclosed that those who cast their votes at the Al-Zaytun were transported by dozens of buses from Jakarta, including at least 21 military vehicles.
The buses picked up passengers from three locations, Lebak Bulus, Pondok Pinang and Kalibata -- all in South Jakarta, and dropped them off at Al-Zaytun. None of the buses stayed over night, but the drivers returned to the Islamic school complex later on July 5.
The Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters has discharged a lieutenant colonel, allegedly responsible for authorizing the use of the vehicles, while 20 civil servants at the TNI headquarters were given administrative sanctions.
Separately, a researcher at the Islamic Research Institute (LPPI) Sukanto claimed that the people involved in the scam were members of the outlawed Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement.
Sukanto, a former NII executive himself, said Al-Zaytun had a strong relationship with Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanto Rukmana, the eldest daughter of former president Soeharto.
"In the April 5 legislative election, all Al-Zaytun members were asked to vote for Tutut's Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB), while in the recent presidential election, they had been asked to vote for Wiranto," Sukanto told the press on Thursday.
Jakarta Post - July 8, 2004
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura -- Repeating an old trick of their New Order counterparts, two subdistrict poll officials in Timika, Papua province, allegedly pierced thousands of ballot papers to benefit Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla.
The act was discovered by the local authorities on Monday and the two were immediately arrested for police questioning.
A senior police officer said on Wednesday that after questioning, police investigators had named as suspects two poll officials, Edward Wenda and Pasmin Weya, for unlawfully perforating 3,200 ballot papers allocated to four polling stations in Kwamki Lama hamlet, Timika. The town is located some 750 kilometers southeast of Jayapura, the capital of Papua.
The act had allowed Susilo and Kalla to "win" by a landslide at polling stations 11, 12, 13 and 14 in Kwamki Lama, according to Mimika Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Paulus Waterpauw who oversees Timika municipality.
The two suspects confessed that they committed the wrongdoing after they had been offered a substantial sum of money by the Susilo-Kalla campaign team in Timika, said Paulus, without disclosing the total amount involved. "We are still looking into the matter -- whether they were really offered the money," said Paulus.
He said that the two were charged with depriving the public of the right to vote, thus violating Law No. 12/2003 on elections, which carries a maximum sentence of six months' imprisonment.
The fraud was spotted on Monday when the two poll officials handed over boxes containing ballot papers to the head of New Mimika district poll committee, Marthen Sawai.
Marthen was puzzled at receiving the ballot boxes, as the two handed them over to him at around 9:30 on Monday morning, when other polling stations had only just opened for voting. He immediately reported the alleged fraud to officials at Timika Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu), who then informed the local police.
Such electoral fraud is not new; it was often perpetrated by poll officials during the tenure of the New Order government, to favor the ruling Golkar Party. The misdeeds were never publicized at that time as the country was under the tight grip of then president Soeharto.
| Reconciliation & justice |
Reuters - July 9, 2004
Indonesian prosecutors have requested a 10-year sentence for the commander of Kopassus, the country's top special force, for his alleged role in the massacre of Muslim activists almost two decades ago.
Prosecutors have accused Major-General Sriyanto, an army captain in the North Jakarta military command when troops opened fire at a rally of Muslim activists on September 12, 1984, of gross human rights violations.
The shooting was dubbed the Tanjung Priok incident after the Jakarta port where it occurred.
"Sriyanto, who is now a major-general and chief of the Kopassus, has convincingly committed gross violation of human rights and crimes against humanity, killings and torture," State Prosecutor Darmono told the Jakarta human rights court. "(Prosecutors) demand 10 years in jail," he said.
Mr Darmono said the killings occurred after the activists held a prayer. At least 23 people were killed and 54 wounded in the shooting, he said. Local rights groups have said the casualties could be as high as 400.
Political tensions in the poor district of Tanjung Priok, near Jakarta's port area, were triggered by preachers using religious means to oppose the Government, prosecutors said at a hearing into the case last year.
Advertisement Advertisement Looking relaxed and calm, Sriyanto made no comment after the charges were read. He has entered a not guilty plea.
[Reuters, with Matthew Moore.]
Douche Presse Agenter - July 9, 2004
Jakarta -- Government prosecutors on Friday demanded 10-year jail sentences for 13 military officers charged with committing gross human rights abuses for their alleged roles in the massacre of more than 30 Muslim protesters 19 years ago.
Chief prosecutor Widodo Supriyadi said Captain Sutrisno Mascung and 12 other lower-ranking officers had been proven guilty of committing crimes against humanity in the incident, which took place on September 12, 1984, at North Jakarta's Tanjung Priok slum neighbourhood.
There is no trial by jury in Indonesia. Cases are decided by a panel of judges who weigh the arguments of the prosecution and defence before passing sentence. Supriyadi told the recently established ad-hoc human rights tribunal that the defendants had killed and tortured the victims, leaving 32 people dead and 55 others injured.
The prosecutors described the defendants' acts as a systematic attack on civilians. Mascung was the commander of Platoon III at the Air Defence Artillery Battalion when the incident occurred.
On Thursday, state prosecutors sought a 10-year jail term for Major General Sriyanto Muntrasan, the commander of the Army's elite special forces (Kopassus), on similar charges.
Last April, retired major general Rudolf Butar Butar was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the tribunal, after being found guilty of failing to control troops who allegedly killed the protesters.
The Tanjung Priok trial is the second case to be taken up by Indonesia's ad hoc human rights tribunal, which was set up in early 2002, largely on the prompting of the international community to try Indonesian officials blamed for the brutal slaughter of hundreds of people in East Timor, formerly an Indonesian territory, in 1999.
The Tanjung Priok massacre was sparked on September 7, 1984, by a soldier who entered a prayer room in a Tanjung Priok mosque to tear down posters which the government deemed extremist in nature.
Independent agencies put the death toll as high as 100, while relatives of the victims claimed almost 400 people were dead in the incident, now listed as one of the bloodiest crackdowns under Suharto's 32-year rule.
| Environment |
Jakarta Post - July 5, 2004
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh -- A court here ruled in favor of the government on Saturday over a lawsuit filed by a leading environmental watchdog against the controversial Ladia Galaska highway project in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province.
The Banda Aceh District Court dismissed the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi)'s lawsuit against Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh, the environment impact control agency chairman and the local settlement and regional infrastructure head.
Other defendants were the Aceh Legislative Council and CV Cipta Puga, which conducted the environment impact analysis (Amdal) on the project.
The panel of judges said Walhi's legal demand for the halt to the opening of the Ladia Galaska trans-Aceh highway in a protected forest was not acceptable.
The claim of the plaintiff that the project would damage the protected forest was not proven, they argued.
"Statements by expert witnesses presented in the trial show no evidence that there are ecological losses as a result of the Ladia Galaska development," presiding judge Syarifuddin told Saturday's four-hour hearing.
Apart from that, Walhi failed to prove that the government's environmental impact analysis used to defend the project was invalid, he said.
Walhi should have detailed the reasons why the Amdal was invalid in the lawsuit, Syarifuddin added.
He said that a number of photos and newspaper clippings showing environmental and forest damage presented by the plaintiff, could not be held as evidence before the court.
The court handed down the verdict after 25 hearings that started on November 3 last year.
Bambang Antariksa, a lawyer for Walhi, deplored the court's decision, saying he and his colleagues would soon scrutinize the hard evidence they had presented to the court.
"We will conduct a study on the evidence by legal and environmental experts," he said.
The 44.89 kilometer-Ladia Galaska network cuts through hundreds of kilometers of protected forest area in Aceh to link the eastern and western coasts of the province through Peureulak, Pinding, Lokop, Central Aceh, Gayo Lues and Nagan Raya.
Walhi and other environmental groups in Indonesia and abroad have been
particularly concerned about the damage the project will cause to the Leuser ecosystem including the orangutan's habitat in Sumatra.
The main section of the Ladia Galaska highway will cut through 100.16 kilometers of protected forest and 1.5 kilometers of forest conservation areas.
Furthermore, Geologist Eko Soebowo of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) has said six of the nine planned routes would cross the Sumatra fault line and would thus be prone to earthquakes, landslides and collapse.
The Ministry of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure had said the road was necessary to link Aceh's eastern and western coasts to stimulate the rural economy of the western part of the province.
| Health & education |
Jakarta Post - July 9, 2004
Dewi Santoso, Jakarta -- Indonesia is not working effectively to prevent HIV/AIDS among students because of a lack of commitment on the part of the government and social agencies to teach prevention in schools, the National AIDS Commission (KPA) says.
KPA secretary Suharto, who will head Indonesia's delegation to the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok from July 11 to July 17, said the government should promote the danger of the deadly virus through the national education curriculum.
"We have a policy to incorporate courses on the danger of the virus and its prevention into the curriculum. But it has not yet been implemented effectively," he said.
Suharto was referring to the Ministerial Decree No. 303/U/1997, which called for education programs to prevent students from contracting HIV/AIDS.
"We want the government to seriously make a commitment and focus on the decree so as to provide elementary, junior and senior high school students with information on the danger of HIV/AIDS," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said the preventative programs for students should be included in courses on health and physical education and reproductive health.
Other countries like Thailand and the Philippines had implemented similar educational programs effectively, Suharto said.
A country report issued by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said on Tuesday the HIV prevalence among Indonesian injecting drug users increased by threefold to 48 percent in 2003 from 16 percent in 1999.
The number of injecting drug users is now estimated at between 125,000 and 196,000, while data from the Ministry of Health reveals that 52 percent of HIV/AIDS cases in the country affected the group of people aged between 20 and 29 years.
Adi, who said he had contracted the lethal virus two-and-a-half years ago after sharing a used syringe, supported the idea of teaching HIV-AIDS prevention in schools.
"We need to let the youth know that the world would be much brighter without drugs," said the 25-year-old, who is to attend the conference in Bangkok.
He hoped he would learn more about the dangers of the virus and drugs at the conference and planned to share this knowledge with friends and other young people in the country.
During the conference, the country's 220-strong delegation will also discuss the stigmatization and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.
"They [people living with HIV/AIDS] should not become alienated or be discriminated against by society. What they need is full support from their families, friends and other community members to face and fight the disease," Suharto said.