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'People power' threat slammed
“People power is something that was used to fight against tyranny, but now we already have mechanisms enshrined in our laws.”
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Volunteers from the Bogor election committee in West Java show ballots to a resident at a traditional market on Sunday. Voters will cast five different votes on April 19, when the country heads to the polls for the simultaneous legislative and presidential elections.
(Antara/Arif Firmansyah )
E
lection organizers and observers have roundly criticized statements made by Prabowo Subianto campaign officials suggesting that the mechanisms to address election fraud are insufficient and that they will resort to international organizations and even “people power” to resolve any disputes.
Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) member Fritz Edward Siregar said he saw no reason for mistrust of existing electoral institutions, adding that Bawaslu itself had already processed hundreds of violations related to the 2019 general election, ranging from administrative infractions to criminal acts.
“This is proof that we are supervising the elections,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
He added that there was very little room for election fraud given the presence of officials, observers, and witnesses from every party and presidential campaign in every polling station.
“Where will the cheating occur? This is one of the most transparent elections in the world,” he said. “People power is something that was used to fight against tyranny, but now we already have mechanisms enshrined in our laws.”
National Mandate Party (PAN) cofounder and patron Amien Rais, who serves as the advisor to the Prabowo campaign, recently claimed that his camp would no longer use the existing mechanisms to settle election disputes.
Amien, who was at the forefront of the Reform movement that led to former president Soeharto’s fall from power in 1998, said he would lead massive protests if he found systematic election fraud.
