‘Why I will win the election’
By Protus Tanuhandaru
BANDA ACEH, The Point
A national polling institution has performed a quick count on Aceh’s Dec. 11 gubernatorial election, declaring one of the candidates a likely winner of the election, even though the official result of election is only due to be released in early January 2007.
The polling conducted by Lingkaran Survei Indonesia (Indonesian Surveyors Circle) has found that Irwandi Jusuf, one of the candidates contending during gubernatorial election, has secured 39% of the total votes cast, a landslide victory.
The result of the election, if correct, is unprecedented, beeing an unusual phenomenon in which an independent candidate who did not spend much time campaigning, overwhelmed other candidates backed by the supposedly powerful political parties.
Days before the election, The Point interviewed Jusuf, on why he felt he would win, what he would do if he did win, and what he thought about the election itself.
The following are the excerpts from The Point:
Q: Are you optimistic about the first round of the election?
A: Yes I am, as the constituents of Aceh are calling on me to become the governor of Aceh. There’re even reports saying that we have the most support, potentially 700,000 votes, larger than 26% limit required to win the election.
Q: But should none of the candidates win the election of the first round, do you think you will be able to enter the second round?
A: I’m not even expecting a second round.
Q: There have been both reports and rumors saying that some of the major political parties could have engaged in money politics, trying to win over voters. You’re not worried about this?
A: No I’m not, but to anticipate such a practice, we have been sending people to patrol areas we think vulnerable to money politics.
Q: Did your men find anyone attempting to persuade people to swing their votes, by means of money politics?
A: Yes they did.
Q: Where did they find them and what did your men do to them?
A: We simply warned them and asked them to leave.
Q: Are you expecting electoral manipulation?
A: If there is any, blame the Aceh Independent Election Commission (KIP), as it has left many potential voters unregistered, many of whom are GAM. Nor had the KIP properly disseminated information regarding the election, leaving many not knowing who the candidates are, where to vote and when.
Q: If you win the gubernatorial election, what will you do?
A: I will first of all implement good governance – sweeping the province of feudalism or royalties hampering the progress of democratization. As an egalitarian, I see no other reason of why I should be distant from my people, particularly the grassroots.
Q: But there has been talk that once you’re elected as governor, there is a possibility of secession, that is, Aceh no longer being part of Indonesia.
A: I want to ask those narrow-minded ultranationalists: Where is the clause or loophole in the Memorandum of Understanding that allows GAM to do so? Should we really do that, we will definitely be condemned by the world, unless the central government breaches the peace agreement first.
Born on August 2, 1960 in Bireun, Aceh, Irwandi Jusuf is a father of five. Having earned his degree in medicine from Syah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, he went to College of Veterinary Medicine Oregon State University, Oregon, USA, obtaining his master’s degree in veterinary medicine. Subsequently, he became one of the founders of Flora Fauna International in Aceh, and became a member of International Commission Red Cross in 2001. Before the tsunami and the ensuing peace process, he was a member of a member of the GAM Monitoring Team, the negotiator representing GAM in Aceh. Captured by the Indonesian military, he became a prisoner of war, detained in Kedh, Banda Aceh.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
‘Aceh voting problems unacceptable’
By Protus Tanuhandaru
BANDA ACEH, The Point
(December 11, 2006) A former Free Aceh Movement rebel had labeled the central government as incompetent in its handling of today’s historic gubernatorial election in Aceh with an estimated 10 percent of the voting public being deprived of the right to vote.
Irwandi Jusuf said the government was “incompetent” as not only had it failed to disseminate information about the election process to many Acehnese, including many who would be voting for the first time, but had registered others, including GAM members.
“Deliberate or not, this is unacceptable,” said Jusuf, adding “if we want a lasting peace, we had better not deprive people of their right to vote.”
An estimated 9% to 13% of eligible voters do not appear on the Independent Election Commission (KIP) registration or do not have the required voting documentation.
Asked by The Point whether voters would know what to do on election day, KIP deputy chief Naimah Hasan said, “we have done everything to raise the awareness of people to vote, but it seems out public announcements did not reach some of the voters, thereby meaning some people will not appear on election day.”
Jusuf rejected her argument. Another issue concerning voters was the possibility that money politics, common throughout other parts of
Anticipating money politics, Jusuf said former rebels and supporters of candidates who themselves were former rebels would patrol key areas and would be alert to any such practices. He said they had already discovered such people attempting to swing constituents’ voting decisions.
Asked what he did to those people, he told The Point on Sunday that, “We just fended them off—we gave them warning but we let them go.”
On Sunday night, he said his people would continue to do the same thing on Monday, namely prevent the big political parties from buying votes.
Akhiruddin Mahjuddin, a candidate running for a deputy mayoral position, said the NGO he had been running, Gerak Aceh, would investigate the use of funds during the electoral campaign.
Gerak Aceh has been investigating corruption related to reconstruction and rehabilitation in post-tsunami Aceh.
Regardless of money politics, some analysts have predicted that as none of the candidates will win comprehensively the vote for the governor would be forced into a runoff in March.
“If all contenders are on a par, there will be a second round,” said Glyn Ford, the chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission.
Ford refused to elaborate on which party he believed was likely to win, as he said the mission must remain impartial.
However, if voting in the presidential elections in 2004 was any indication, Golkar must remain the favored party.
Marcus Mietzner, a Jakarta-based political analyst, said that with eight pairs candidates vying for the positions of governor of Aceh and his deputy, there was a possibility of not having a winner in the first round, implying that there would be a runoff. He was interviewed by the Associated Press.
The possibility of a runoff is viable, as some voters could accidentally vote for a candidate they are not familiar with, or will not vote at all because they don’t know how to vote or when and where.
Although the results of the elections would not be announced until early January, weeks after of election day, some are already concerned that the threat of violence is increasing in some parts of the troubled province. The EU mission however remains positive about the outcome.
More than 10,000 police officers have been deployed to safeguard 8,000 polling stations.
Asked whether any potential conflict existed, Aceh’s top cop Bahrumsyah told The Point that “all candidates had reached a consensus not to create conflict.”
Q&A: Glyn Ford: ‘We care about nothing but a peaceful election in Aceh’
By Protus Tanuhandaru
Today is the day of Aceh’s gubernatorial election, a historic event in which more than 2,600,000 Acehnese are expected to cast their ballots, yet one that would not have been possible had Aceh not been struck by the tsunami and then undergone a peace process.
To ensure that the election passes off peacefully, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM), a European task force invited by the Indonesian government and Aceh Independent Election Commission (KIP), is monitoring the gubernatorial elections, from the preparation of voter’s registration cards, the candidates’ campaigns, the election day and the counting of the votes.
Glyn Ford, the chief observer of EU EOM, stressed the importance of the election a part of the sustainable peace process between the Indonesian government and the rebels, telling The Point over the weekend “our job is to assess the quality of the election and to ensure that nothing will go awry. Should something go wrong, then the peace process will be hampered."
Successful in observing the 2004 presidential election here, Ford has been appointed as the EOM chief observer. After observing campaigning by the candidates, Ford, along with other observers, is to monitor some of the polling stations across Aceh.
The following are excerpts of the interview:
Q: What do you expect from this election?
A: We personally don’t care who wins, but it is important for the people of Aceh to convey what they feel about the government and the political party they’re voting for. Our concern is to convince the losers to be able to face the loss and ensure that the Acehnese get what they’re voting for—the sort of officials they actually want.
Q: Are you optimistic about the election?
A: I am, because people are allowed to vote. There’s been little intimidation during the campaign and during the registration of voters, so apparently, it will be a peaceful election day. But things could go wrong however. The problems may come in the integrity of the vote count and the reaction of the losers—both the candidates and their supporters—who could become disgruntled. What I’m hoping for is that they know that the electoral process they are going through is democratic and that there will always be another opportunity to make changes.
Q: You said something could go awry during the election. Why so?
A: There will be mistakes made, at the polling stations and elsewhere, caused by human error, that is, people who don’t really understand what they’re doing. And we’re talking about more than 8,000 polling stations—some even located in remote areas. The acid test will be whether the mistakes are very significant or not worth taking into consideration.
Q: How many observers will be working to monitor these polling stations?
A: The number of people we have is close to 250, of which 80 are European and eight are the core teams who have been working here for six weeks and will stay here until the beginning of January. Joining them are 30 long-term observers who will be deployed across 21 districts for about a month, along with short-term observers who will come in for 8-9 days. For election day, we will have extra teams deployed in districts we consider need more observers.
Q: How many polling stations will these observers be able to visit?
A: I’m expecting our observers to visit at least 400 to 600 out of more than 8,000 polling stations.
Q: Where will you go personally?
A: I will go to Takengon, a very sensitive area, then back to Banda Aceh itself. Then I will be looking into the collection of votes and the vote count, but I’m only a small part of the election process.
Q: Why is Takengon very sensitive?
A: This highland area is difficult to deal with, as it is one area not really involved in the civil war.
Q: Will the political parties, having invested so much in the campaign, be able to accept losing, should they lose the campaign?
A: I hope so. In 2004, there was a reaction during the first round of the presidential election: General Wiranto contended that there was a major fraud in counting the votes. In our perception, however, there was no evidence of fraud on anything like the scale that would have been necessary to reverse the order and allow him to attain more votes than Megawati. People should be aware that sometimes they win, and more often they lose. The eight candidates contesting this election should understand: Only one candidate will win. Should this election, as part of the peace process, fail, we will go back to a period when Aceh experiences conflict. So the peace process and the resulting election are the last chance for peace for two or three generations of Acehnese.
Q: Why is European Union very concerned with Aceh?
A: The European Union, now bigger and richer than the U.S., is now looking to the Third World, half of the hemisphere of the globe, and working on foreign security policy on the global stage. We act by use of soft-power to help the transition of peace in Indonesia, which the largest Muslim state. Now the amount of money we spend on such a mission is less than 40-minutes spending in Iraq, making it good value for money. We believe in the development of democracy and are seeking to end any conflict. Knowing that in the past, there was a situation where the people who voted were the ones who controlled the system, we’re here in our capacity as independent observers to help monitor the election.
Q: Can you tell us how the peace process relates to the election?
A: The local elections in Aceh are part of the peace agreement ending the conflict. The peace agreement requires the holding of a provincial election in which independent candidates frpm GAM and other groups are allowed to participate for the first time, because in the past, the Indonesian legislation had not allowed regional parties to exist. (PRT)
Born in 1950 in Gloucester, U.K., Glyn Ford is the chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission—Aceh. Previously he was an academician, teaching science and technology policies, and was subsequently elected as a member of the European Parliament in 1994, dealing with foreign affairs and defense issues in East Asia, particularly North Korea.
Today is the day of Aceh’s gubernatorial election, a historic event in which more than 2,600,000 Acehnese are expected to cast their ballots, yet one that would not have been possible had Aceh not been struck by the tsunami and then undergone a peace process.
To ensure that the election passes off peacefully, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM), a European task force invited by the Indonesian government and Aceh Independent Election Commission (KIP), is monitoring the gubernatorial elections, from the preparation of voter’s registration cards, the candidates’ campaigns, the election day and the counting of the votes.
Glyn Ford, the chief observer of EU EOM, stressed the importance of the election a part of the sustainable peace process between the Indonesian government and the rebels, telling The Point over the weekend “our job is to assess the quality of the election and to ensure that nothing will go awry. Should something go wrong, then the peace process will be hampered."
Successful in observing the 2004 presidential election here, Ford has been appointed as the EOM chief observer. After observing campaigning by the candidates, Ford, along with other observers, is to monitor some of the polling stations across Aceh.
The following are excerpts of the interview:
Q: What do you expect from this election?
A: We personally don’t care who wins, but it is important for the people of Aceh to convey what they feel about the government and the political party they’re voting for. Our concern is to convince the losers to be able to face the loss and ensure that the Acehnese get what they’re voting for—the sort of officials they actually want.
Q: Are you optimistic about the election?
A: I am, because people are allowed to vote. There’s been little intimidation during the campaign and during the registration of voters, so apparently, it will be a peaceful election day. But things could go wrong however. The problems may come in the integrity of the vote count and the reaction of the losers—both the candidates and their supporters—who could become disgruntled. What I’m hoping for is that they know that the electoral process they are going through is democratic and that there will always be another opportunity to make changes.
Q: You said something could go awry during the election. Why so?
A: There will be mistakes made, at the polling stations and elsewhere, caused by human error, that is, people who don’t really understand what they’re doing. And we’re talking about more than 8,000 polling stations—some even located in remote areas. The acid test will be whether the mistakes are very significant or not worth taking into consideration.
Q: How many observers will be working to monitor these polling stations?
A: The number of people we have is close to 250, of which 80 are European and eight are the core teams who have been working here for six weeks and will stay here until the beginning of January. Joining them are 30 long-term observers who will be deployed across 21 districts for about a month, along with short-term observers who will come in for 8-9 days. For election day, we will have extra teams deployed in districts we consider need more observers.
Q: How many polling stations will these observers be able to visit?
A: I’m expecting our observers to visit at least 400 to 600 out of more than 8,000 polling stations.
Q: Where will you go personally?
A: I will go to Takengon, a very sensitive area, then back to Banda Aceh itself. Then I will be looking into the collection of votes and the vote count, but I’m only a small part of the election process.
Q: Why is Takengon very sensitive?
A: This highland area is difficult to deal with, as it is one area not really involved in the civil war.
Q: Will the political parties, having invested so much in the campaign, be able to accept losing, should they lose the campaign?
A: I hope so. In 2004, there was a reaction during the first round of the presidential election: General Wiranto contended that there was a major fraud in counting the votes. In our perception, however, there was no evidence of fraud on anything like the scale that would have been necessary to reverse the order and allow him to attain more votes than Megawati. People should be aware that sometimes they win, and more often they lose. The eight candidates contesting this election should understand: Only one candidate will win. Should this election, as part of the peace process, fail, we will go back to a period when Aceh experiences conflict. So the peace process and the resulting election are the last chance for peace for two or three generations of Acehnese.
Q: Why is European Union very concerned with Aceh?
A: The European Union, now bigger and richer than the U.S., is now looking to the Third World, half of the hemisphere of the globe, and working on foreign security policy on the global stage. We act by use of soft-power to help the transition of peace in Indonesia, which the largest Muslim state. Now the amount of money we spend on such a mission is less than 40-minutes spending in Iraq, making it good value for money. We believe in the development of democracy and are seeking to end any conflict. Knowing that in the past, there was a situation where the people who voted were the ones who controlled the system, we’re here in our capacity as independent observers to help monitor the election.
Q: Can you tell us how the peace process relates to the election?
A: The local elections in Aceh are part of the peace agreement ending the conflict. The peace agreement requires the holding of a provincial election in which independent candidates frpm GAM and other groups are allowed to participate for the first time, because in the past, the Indonesian legislation had not allowed regional parties to exist. (PRT)
Born in 1950 in Gloucester, U.K., Glyn Ford is the chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission—Aceh. Previously he was an academician, teaching science and technology policies, and was subsequently elected as a member of the European Parliament in 1994, dealing with foreign affairs and defense issues in East Asia, particularly North Korea.
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