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PDI-P campaign team warns of vote rigging on polling day
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has warned of vote rigging on balloting day on Thursday, saying the people’s sovereignty was under serious threat
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The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has warned of vote rigging on balloting day on Thursday, saying the people’s sovereignty was under serious threat.
PDI-P campaign team chairman Gayus Lumbuun reiterated the legislative elections were prone to violations, mainly vote rigging, that would certainly undermine the country’s democracy and betray the people’s sovereignty, but added all election contestants had at the last minute decided to take part in the polls to pursue the nation’s best interests.
“A day before balloting day, the government and the General Elections Commission [KPU] must ensure all logistics and stakeholders, including well-informed poll workers, security personnel and party witnesses, are already at polling stations. The election supervisory committee and security personnel should also make sure they will be proactive in handling all kinds of violations and frauds,” he said Tuesday.
Gayus, a senior lawyer and outgoing legislator, admitted the PDI-P and many other parties contesting the elections were worried about election fraud undermining the electoral process, ranging from polling stations to the delivery in stages of votes through the district election committees to the KPU’s IT department. PDI-P campaign team member Hasto Kristiantiyanto said his party had convincing evidence that the KPU had been abused by certain sides with “close access to the power holder”, in an apparent attempt to help “a certain side” win.
“The finding of voter list fraud in 19 provinces and 78 regencies and municipalities, low-quality and defective ballots, slow delivery of polling material, unqualified poll workers and cell phone text message records of a conversation between certain public officials on how to mark up vote tallies are strong evidence that the KPU has been compromised by certain sides to help a certain side win the legislative elections,” he said.
He added East Java was seemingly a testing ground for a nationwide election engineering by “certain sides” to gift the election victory to a “certain contestant”.
“Based on the text messages, the engineering is able to mark up at least 10 percent of votes, and it has been already proven in four gubernatorial elections, including in East Java, North Sumatra and North Maluku,” he said, adding that elections rulings and memos had become controlling instruments for the KPU in disrupting candidates’ campaigns. The Constitutional Court’s verdict on the majority vote system shifted the head-to-head election conflicts among contestants to legislative candidates within parties, and from the elite group in the center to the party chapters at regency and municipality level.
Referring to the recommendations made by 14 parties Monday, Hasto said the parties had agreed to share information, exchange reports on election violations and closely monitor the electoral process by checking voters with voter lists at all polling stations and checking the vote counting at all levels.
Gayus said the parties, including the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), would individually or collectively file a lawsuit if the legislative polls proceeded with numerous electoral crimes, including vote rigging and violations by omission.
“That is why the election supervisory board and the police should be proactive in handling any major violations as of Wednesday,” he said, adding that in the future, Indonesia should have an ad hoc court to try electoral crimes.
