A Message to Business: ELECTIONS YEAR INDONESIA 2004

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A Message to BusinessELECTIONS YEAR INDONESIA
2004

• CONFIRMATION CONSOLIDATION OF DEMOCRATIC
  LEGITIMACY
• A joint publication by the Coordinating Ministry
  for Economic Affairs
• and the Capital Market Supervisory Agency
  (BAPEPAM)
• Republic of Indonesia
• Elections Background Information
• Issue 01 March 28, 2004

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INDONESIAN POLITICAL AND DEMOCRATIC MATURITY

• From the start, the 2004 Electoral Commission
  (KPU) was managed by prominent academics,
  intellectuals and NGOs activists. It is, and
  remains, completely independent from outside
  intervention. Political parties, the executive
  branch, as well as the legislative and judicial
  branches, all respect the KPUs independence and
  freedom of action as stipulated by the Law.
• The Government of the Republic of Indonesia, with
  the approval of the parliament, has provided the
  necessary funds for the preparation of the
  parliamentary and presidential elections without
  political and other strings attached. The total
  budget is about Rp 4 Trillion, and an additional
  US 80 million grant provided by donor countries
  and multilateral agencies to support this
  historical exercise.
• The present status and position of KPU is
  comparable, or even better, than electoral
  commissions in the most advanced democracies as
  the KPU is free from all sorts of pressures
  especially those emanating from government or
  political parties.
• Difficulties arising from the electoral schedule
  agenda are of a purely technical and logistical
  nature.

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CONJECTURES ON LOGISTICAL ELECTORAL ISSUES

• Conjectures can arise on delayed and
  staggered elections and their respective legal
  and political consequences. This indeed
  represents a field day for the media,
  observers, and commentators of all sorts.
• Aside from assisting the KPU from the very
  beginning the government response is that of
  total readiness to assist with funds and
  institutional support increased mobilization of
  the public administration, the police, and the
  armed forces to overcome delays and
  transportation difficulties.
• Society at large has been no less responsive
  through local mobilization and solidarity actions
  towards the electoral process. School children,
  students, local police, municipal administrators,
  and neighborhood institutions and families are
  all racing against the clock in preparing polling
  booths and ballot casting stations.

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THE BASIC PROBLEM (INDONESIAN ELECTIONS SEEN AT
A DISTANCE)

• The sheer magnitude and dimension of elections
  in the worlds third largest democracy
• On April 5 Indonesians will select 550
  representatives in the national Parliament from
  among 7,765 candidates standing for election as
  well as 128 members (four per province) out of
  940 aspirants for the new Regional Representative
  Council and some 50,000 standing for election to
  1,838 seats in regional representative bodies.   
  
• On July 5 the president and vice president will
  for the first time be elected in a direct
  election.  If no slate receives a majority, a
  run-off election will be held on September 20. 
• These elections will require over 585,000 polling
  places, almost a billion ballots, 2.3 million
  ballot boxes, and over five million workers. 
• The ballots will be complicated, with 24 parties
  certified to field candidates for many of the
  thousands of national and regional offices. 
  Participation is expected to run well above 90
  percent. 
• While localized clashes are possible, seasoned
  Indonesia-observers expect the polling to be
  peaceful, fair, and successful.

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The Basic(continued)

• Election Cycle A Snapshot
• Three elections                        
• April 5 for legislative seats (national, regional
  representatives council, and provincial/district
  levels)
• July 5 First round Presidential
• September 20, Second Round Presidential (if
  needed)        
• Registered voters                     147.3
  Million
• Polling stations                         585,000
  
• Ballots                                    
  Almost 1 billion
• 660 million for legislative election
• 150 million for each presidential election
• Manpower Security Over 5 million workers to
  train, 4 million poll workers
• Some 500 foreign observers will monitor the
  legislative and presidential elections

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THE CHALLENGE THE ARCHIPELAGO AND THE MARITIME
CONTINENT

• Out of Indonesias 18 000 islands, 6000 are
  inhabited where citizens and voters are to be
  located for elections purposes. This is the real
  electoral challenge of the sprawling archipelago
  stretching 3.5 time zones across the equator
  (comparable with an area from Moscow to Dublin
  east-west and Stockholm to Rome north-south).
• Some of the larger islands have continental
  configurations (climate, land size, and
  geography) and transportation and communication
  problems are frequent (Irian Jaya, Kalimantan,
  Sulawesi, etc.). This is Indonesias maritime
  continent challenge.
• Both elements (archipelagic and continental) are
  also a true challenge to electoral experts
  worldwide.

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THE NATIONAL CONSENSUS

• Political parties, public opinion, and
  commentators are not blaming government
  authorities for the present situation where the
  KPU has to overcome deadlines and delays.
• Moreover, without any political engineering
  characteristic of the past New Order (Orde Baru)
  regime, political maturity and stability have
  been attained through the natural selection of
  political parties by Indonesian society. From
  about 230 (declared) political parties
  registering for 2004 elections, only 24 were
  considered fulfilled the requirements. This
  number is half of those in 1999 with 48 political
  parties contesting in the elections in that year.
• Elections are eagerly awaited as the country does
  not wish a repeat of the 1998 2001 crisis (the
  forced resignation of Soeharto, the refusal of
  Habibies presidential accountability report by
  the National Assembly, and the impeachment of
  Abdurrahman Wahid) nor a repetition of the fall
  of Soekarno before the New Order.
• All involved are aware that creating chaos and
  economic disorder will drag the country back to
  the years of crisis.
• Maintaining election deadlines, well prepared
  elections delay, or staggered elections are
  solutions collectively envisaged.

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DISSENSIONS

• Anybody seeking to capitalize on problems
  related to the electoral process will not be able
  to rally massive supporters on this theme.
• There is now great public indifference towards
  political organizations seeking to stir up mass
  protests and trouble on many issues. The public
  may not heed calls for mass mobilization on
  issues of a technical and logistical nature.

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FROM A FLEDGLING TO A MATURING DEMOCRACY

• Matters arising from election delays and
  deadlines as central issues demonstrate the
  following
• The political and economic crisis is past and has
  not become a major campaign theme. Creating
  internal strife and terror has not been
  successful. The KPU problem can not be used to
  this purpose.
• Institution building success now becomes the new
  challenge parallel to successful constitutional
  reform (direct presidential elections, provincial
  representatives/senators, representation by
  parties and personalities).
• Democratic institutions such as KPU have only had
  very limited time to adapt and be on par with the
  high standards and quality of electoral
  commissions in the worlds most successful
  democracies.
• Thorough election planning and preparation is to
  become part and parcel of Indonesian democratic
  life, year in year on.

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COMPARISONS

• Historically, Indonesian elections are peaceful
  and relatively violence free.
• Present problems being of a technical and
  logistical nature should not give rise to
  violence, polemics nor excessive controversy.
• Sociologically, delays and extension of deadlines
  do not create as much protest.
• The electoral process has much of being carried
  through anyway. Public passions, compared to
  1999, have seriously subsided and charismatic
  figures and political organizations have only a
  moderate appeal in the publics eyes.
• Electoral participation, as past registration and
  participation have shown, is high compared to
  other countries and voters will not be
  discouraged by logistical issues.

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OBSERVATIONS

• The Indonesian voter has become very critical and
  will choose according to his/her inner
  convictions. External pressures, vote buying, and
  opportunistic electoral promises do not seem to
  excessively attract the public.
• The regional and local dimension has become very
  important.
• Artificially created issues will remain
  artificial.
• There is a new and up and coming young generation
  of voters.
• Civil society grows in strength while the
  military moves towards professionalism by
  abandoning their bloc vote in the assembly and do
  not vote in the elections.
• A new generation of political scientists is on
  the rise public opinion and polling specialists,
  analysts in elections organization, procedures,
  practices, and results.
• In the final analysis Indonesia is on the march
  to democratic confirmation and consolidation.