PRESS RELEASE: Gubernatorial Election of DKI Jakarta Second Round

PRESS RELEASE 

KOMITE INDEPENDEN PEMANTAU PEMILU

INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE FOR ELECTION MONITORING

(KIPP) JAKARTA

Prior to Gubernatorial Election of DKI Jakarta Second Round 

Less than in 48 hours, people of DKI Jakarta will decide who will be their upcoming leader for the next 5 year. There are many interesting things to study in order to improve democracy in Indonesia, especially in Jakarta.  

The political tension is recently getting higher and fiercely prior to second round voting day. It needs the maturity of all stakeholders in this situation: the commitment to win, as well to loose, not only among the candidates, but also to the winning teams and their supporters. The election shall conduct free and fair and in the conducive situation. If there is dispute on election results, it shall be determined through constitutional way in Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi).        

Some concerns of KIPP Jakarta :

1. Prior to Voting Day:

The voters should have the invitation letters (Form C6-KWK.KPU) to cast vote maximum 1 day before voting day (19th September). On the First Round election, the letters arrived in the hand of voters just on voting day!

The voters were not confident to go to poll stations without invitation letters, even they asked themselves, whether they have rights to cast vote. Some voters didn’t go at all. 

Voters who didn’t get the invitation letter, they have the rights to vote, as long as their names are on the list of DPS  and DPT . Invitation letter is not the absolute requirement to cast vote. 

Money politics close to voting day can vary in some forms: cash, in kind, or promises of facilities. Due to that matter, KIPP Jakarta appeals people of DKI Jakarta NOT to receive the money and NOT to vote the candidate. Money politics is a flaw in democracy. Do not receive the money. Do not vote the candidate. We are against money Politics.  

2. On voting Day:

a. Frauds on voting day:

• Some people wearing certain symbols, attributes, marks gather 

  around the poll station. This can influence voters  

  psychologically. 

• Voters do not dip the finger on ink. 

• Voters take picture of his or her ballot paper.

• The poll officer says or counts falsely (double or multiple) for a certain candidate when counting 

• Intimidation to voters and observers. 

• The poll officers guide the voters to vote a certain candidate. 

b. The neutrality of KPUD  and Panwaslu  is a must. 

c. Lack of supervision of KPUD and Panwaslu during implementation on the field. 

3. Post Voting Day:

a. The change of result by EMB officers. 

b. The result dispute should be done through constitutional way, not through mass mobilization.

Invitation letter of mine

KIPP Jakarta will deploy 250 observer in 250 - 300 Poll stations. Most of observers are station observers and 20 mobile observers who will observe some allegedly fraud-sensitive poll stations.  

Due to the matters above, KIPP Jakarta:

1. Appeals to all eligible voters in DKI Jakarta to use their rights to vote on 20th September and to take a part to observe the cycle of this upcoming gubernatorial election: prior to voting day, on voting day and post voting day. 

2. Warns all officers of election management body both KPPS  as well PPL   and their superiors to be neutral. The unneutrality of election management body can damage the democracy system in Indonesia. 

3. Urges respective officers such as Satpol PP and election supervisory body to take off street banners and any materials related to campaign materials at least H-1 (one day before voting day).   

4. Highly appreciates KPU Provinsi DKI Jakarta that forbids the use of camera cell phone or any other documentation means in poll booths. It is to prevent people do money politics through picture of his or her vote on poll booth. 

However, this decision should be widespread disseminated among KPPS officers and correctly implemented. On the First Round many KPPS officers didn’t care about this and allowed people to take camera cell phone in poll booths. 

5. Appeals to two candidates and their winning teams NOT to conduct provocative activities on post election that can produce instability situation, if they find some allegedly disputes.  The electoral law arranges already the mechanism of dispute solution.

6. Reminds to survey institutions to be careful when they publish quick count results and its conclusion, in order NOT to create instability in the society. 

7. Asks all the society components to guard this gubernatorial election so that the election will be free, fair and peaceful and to respect the result.  

This press release is a moral responsibility of KIPP Jakarta as one element of civil society that concerns to the implementation of free, fair, direct, secret, peaceful and democratic gubernatorial election. 

Jakarta, 18th September 2012.

Sincerely yours,
Komite Independen Pemantau Pemilu
KIPP Jakarta

  
Wahyudinata
Chairman

The Role of KIPP in Indonesian Democratization

The Role of KIPP in Indonesian Democratization

by: Prof Yamada Mitsuru

Faculty of Social Sciences, Toyo Eiwa University, Japan

From the end of 1980s, new NGOs promoted Indonesian democratization, including “Free and Fair general elections.” KIPP was established on the fifteenth of March, in 1996 under the authoritarian Soeharto’s regime and was first election monitoring in Indonesia. KIPP was comprised of more than thirty NGOs that were in turn composed of independent journalists, activists for democratization, students, religious groups, laborers, and professionals. 

Prof. Yamada and me in the front of Capital Hotel Inn, Kabul, Afghanistan, August 2009.
We joined Election Observation Mission of Afghanistan Presidential Election 2009

KIPP has been against pro-Suharto organizations such as Golongan Karya (Functional Groups) from the military, bureaucrats, and others which had practiced the unjust, illegal and corrupt election. KIPP tried to realize “free and fair” elections by developing voter education nationwide. However, the democratization activities of KIPP were interrupted and restricted by the Soeharto government through unjust arrest and intimidation. That is why KIPP found it difficult to recruit election volunteers, just before the 1997 general election, the sociopolitical situations changed. Around 12,000 election volunteers participated in this election, from forty seven cities in sixteen provinces. As a result, KIPP became famous as election monitoring NGO in Indonesia. 

KIPP was supported by NAMFREL, AEC (Australian Election Committee), IFES, FES (Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in German), and other organizations with regard to election skills, election training, and so on. FNS (Friedrich Nauman Stiftung in German), NDI (National Democratic Institute), USAID, TAF (The Asia Foundation), and others supported with financial assistance and provided the opportunity for KIPP staff to participate in elections in Bangladesh, the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Australia, US, Finland and the EU respectively.

KIPP members could learn about election systems, election procedures, democratic systems, voter education and other issues because they received many opportunities and forms of support from international NGOs and the international community. Therefore, KIPP became the core member of ANFREL in 1997 as mentioned above. 


The mission of KIPP was to ensure free, fair, and democratic elections in Indonesia. KIPP had three objectives in its election monitoring operation: firstly, to encourage large-scale participation of voters in the election: secondly, to detect election fraud, manipulations, and irregularities: and thirdly, to detect and report election fraud and irregularities, should they occur.

These missions and objectives were influenced by NAMFREL. KIPP prepared many volunteer election observers for the 1999 general election. At this time, it put their capacity training into practice for election procedures and skills nationwide. On the other hand, KIPP completed voter education in every district in cooperation with other domestic NGOs. As a result, 227 KIPP branches were established in 25 provinces and about 260,000 election volunteers were registered before the 1999 general election. Moreover, related organizations such as KIPP Students Branch, KIPP Campus Branch, KIPP Artist Branch, and Women Activist Group from 74 organizations under the Indonesian Women Congress were organized as election monitoring volunteers. In the end, KIPP even recruited volunteers from becak drivers, laborers, vendors, and villagers belonged to the marginal urban community.

Finally, many domestic and international observers besides KIPP participated in the 1999 Indonesian general election. But other big scale domestic organizations such as University President Forum (named Rector Forum), UNFREL (the University Network for Free and Fair Elections), and other small groups – encompassing around 300,000 observers – were permitted to be official election monitoring organizations. And around 600 international observers from international NGOs and foreign governments also participated in this Indonesian election.

Source:
http://ci.nii.ac.jp/els/110006996655.pdf?id=ART0008908221&type=pdf&lang=en&host=cinii&order_no=&ppv_type=0&lang_sw=&no=1344300390&cp=