Jakarta – The election monitoring group the People’s Network for Voter Education (JPPR) believes that the provincial offices of the General Elections Commission (KPUD) in a number of parts of the country are taking an excessive attitude (over acting) in determining what documents are required for organisations to be accredited to monitor the election of regional heads. JPPR believes these actions are an effort to limit public participation in the control of regional elections.

This statement was conveyed by the JPPR’s national coordinator Adung A Rochman at a press conference in Jakarta on the afternoon of Wednesday March 4.

Rochman, who was contacted by Kompas, said that the reality in a number of parts of the country is that the KPUD has added to the requirements for accreditation through new interpretations of the law which are not actually found in Law Number 32/2004 on and Government Regulation Number 6/2005.

In both pieces of legislation it states that a monitoring organisation is only required to provide data on the total number of members, the names and address of its directors along with the organisation’s source of funds at a national level in order to obtain accreditation.

“There are KPUDs who are asking for all the NPWPs (tax file numbers) [of the organisation’s members], there are those who are asking for the names and photographs of all volunteer observers. Does the KPUD want to limit the public participation in the regional elections?”, said Rochman by way of explanation.

Rochman gave as an example the KPUD in the Sukoharjo regency of Central Java that is asking monitoring groups to provide the organisation’s NPWP as a requirement of accreditation. In the Sumenep regency of East Java, monitors are required to hand over a bank guarantee as evidence that has funds. (dik)

[Translated by James Balowski.]