A coalition of civil society groups have lambasted the General Elections Commission (KPU) for being too slow in making preparations for the general elections.

Jeirry Sumampauw of the Indonesian Voters Committee (JPPR) said here Thursday that the KPU should immediately identify potential disruptions to the upcoming elections in order to avoid a “worst-case scenario”.

“The KPU should make a list of identified problems and then present them before the public. They should also insert the alternative solutions in the list so people will know what solutions are still available,” Jeirry told a press conference in Jakarta.

He said the KPU were facing at least two big problems right now, namely the late distribution of election materials and the possibility of the manipulation of voter lists.

“The KPU should explain to the government and to the public why these problems remain unsolved,” he added.

The KPU had claimed to have distributed 75 percent of election materials although it acknowledged to have been behind schedule.

He added the committee had also found potential disruptions to the upcoming elections, including that religious rituals coincide with election day.

On April 9 the Catholics will celebrate Holy Thursday mass while the Hindus celebrate the Panca Bali Krama, which falls only once every 10 years.

“Representatives from Hindu people in Bali and Catholic people in East Nusa Tenggara have told us that they are likely to prefer to attend their religious occasions to the ballot casting booths later on. This is a matter that should have been discussed right now,” he said.

Activists from the Independent Election Supervisory Commission (KIPP), a non-governmental organization, also criticized the KPU.

Former KIPP Secretary-General Mulyana W. Kusuma criticized the KPU for shortchanging the election schedule and being too slow to set a final list registered voters list.

“I even have information from Migrant Care that the KPU has only 1.5 million migrant workers on the registered voters list, when we actually have more than 2.5 million eligible voters out there,” Mulyana said during celebrations for the organization’s 13th birthday Thursday.

“This shows that the KPU is not doing a good enough job to handle this election. The question is: why aren’t they hurrying?”

Mulyana further criticized political parties for being ambivalent regarding the list of eligible voters, saying that political parties should be at the forefront in criticizing the KPU’s slow work.

KPU member Mulyana was sentenced to two years and seven months in 2005 for accepting bribes. A year later he was sentenced to 15 months for his role in another corruption case involving the poll body.

KIPP Secretary General Muchtar Sindong said the KPU should create an independent and separate team to watch over eligible voters list, citing the East Java case as an example of possible voter list manipulation.

The East Java case involves the alleged fraudulent victory of the Democratic Party backed Soekarwo over the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) backed Khofifah Indar Parawansa.

The latter had won an appeal to the Constitutional Court level to have the election re-done in three regencies, but lost again, despite the court’s ruling that Soekarwo had indeed violated election rules.

The National Police, which took over the case, dropped it on the grounds that they lack sufficient evidence. The incident has attracted controversy, as the man in charge of the investigation, former East Java police Chief, Insp. Gen. Herman Surjadi Sumawiredja, was transferred to Jakarta, where he soon resigned.

Herman cited government interference of his investigation.

“This shows that the KPU is not doing a good enough job to handle this election.”

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