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NGOs join forces to fight dirty politics

As politicians have been busy making strategies for the open campaign period beginning March 16, activists from different organizations have intensified efforts to promote fair elections, jointly and individually; online and offline, with the same aim: good elections for a better Indonesia

Bagus BT Saragih (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, March 6, 2014

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NGOs join forces to fight dirty politics

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s politicians have been busy making strategies for the open campaign period beginning March 16, activists from different organizations have intensified efforts to promote fair elections, jointly and individually; online and offline, with the same aim: good elections for a better Indonesia.

Rallies have been held in Jakarta, as well as in other cities, to call on the public to reject vote-buying. Demonstrations were also held on the streets to call on the people to reject candidates with poor track records.

Almost every Sunday morning in past weeks, the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle has been utilized for such activities. Pins, stickers and leaflets containing persuasive messages to reject unfair elections have been distributed to cyclists, joggers and other passersby. Indoors, press gatherings have been held to raise awareness of possible loopholes and violations by political parties and organizers.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), for example, held a press conference on Tuesday to highlight the lack of transparency in political parties'€™ campaign finance reports. ICW'€™s Ade Irawan said that campaign finance reports filed by all 12 political parties with the General Elections Commission (KPU) by last Sunday were just a formality.

'€œThe reports were not detailed. The sources of the funds were not clear. I doubt the parties submitted their real financial plans,'€ he said.

Sunanto of the People'€™s Voter Education Network (JPPR) echoed Ade'€™s idea, urging the KPU to enhance transparency and accountability in regard to campaign funds. '€œThe commission must give the public access to the campaign finance reports filed by political parties and legislative candidates,'€ he said.

Dozens of NGOs have also set up alliances to supervise the upcoming elections. One of them is called the Activists'€™ Movement for Clean Elections. Last week, the alliance issued a statement slamming the Election Supervisory Committee (Bawaslu) for failing to take firm action against numerous forms of vote-buying that it said had taken place down to the village level.

Others recently announced '€œA Declaration to Reject Vote-Buying'€ in which they call on people not to tolerate any form of vote-buying. The ICW said it had collaborated with local NGOs in 15 provinces to monitor vote-buying and misuse of state facilities by candidates who are also state officials.

The movements have also spread online. Independent websites have been established to raise people'€™s awareness on potential tricks by political groups and to help facilitate reports from the general public.

The ICW, for example, runs politikuang.net, which provides a platform for Internet users to file reports on vote-buying.

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