Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – With the legislative election set to be held next Wednesday, the Indonesian Military (TNI) will assist the General Elections Commission (KPU) in distributing election materials to remote areas.
KPU commissioner Ferry Kurnia Rizkiyansyah said that the cooperation was needed because the Regional Elections Commissions (KPUD) in some provinces were experiencing difficulties in distributing materials with less than a week to go to the election.
The Papua KPUD, for example, has requested backup in the form of a helicopter. According to Papua KPUD chief Adam Arisoy, most of the regions in the province are hard to reach by land and thus they needed to distribute the voting materials by air.
As many as 16 regencies in Papua are located in mountainous areas. They are Jayawijaya, Tolikara, Nduga, Puncak, Puncak Jaya, Lanny Jaya, Yalimo, Mamberamo Tengah, Yahukimo, Pegunungan Bintang, Intan Jaya, Dogiyai, Deyai, Paniai and Mimika.
Papua KPUD had previously planned to deliver the materials using commercial flights. However, given recent unstable weather conditions, it was decided to request military support.
TNI commander Gen. Moeldoko said following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between his institution and the KPU on Thursday that the military would provide assistance but also added that the military's involvement would be minimal. "The involvement of our personnel [needs] to be minimized as much as possible," he said.
He said that the military should retain its neutrality during elections and he did not want the involvement of his men in election logistics distribution to be interpreted as allowing the military to rig the elections. "I do not want my officers and men who have been working tirelessly in the field to be accused of being anything other than neutral," he said.
During the event, Moeldoko refuted allegations that he purposefully rotated 60 high-ranking officers as the voting day approached to cater to specific parties' interests. "There is no connection between the rotations [and the election]," he said. "The decisions were taken a long time ago. [However,] they were only implemented recently because the replacement officers had only been released by the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Ministry."
He insisted that the rotations were conducted purely based on merit. "The military came about through the hearts and minds of soldiers, not because it was forced by other people. If it had come about through coercion then we might be able to be bought but as it is we cannot be influenced by anyone."
Moeldoko asked the KPU to do everything that it could to prevent the late distribution of election materials.
"Logistics is a key factor to ensure the credibility of the TNI and the KPU," he said. "Therefore, I would like to ask the KPU to calculate everything by considering all factors that could lead to the deliveries being delayed. I don't want the public to be disappointed by what we do."
"We will provide support, especially in the form of land, air and sea transportation," he said, adding that the KPU would cover all the costs of the logistics distribution as the TNI was only provided with Rp 100 billion (US$8.8 million) to safeguard the elections. "I actually proposed that we be given Rp 300 billion. But [the government] has not been able to fulfill this."
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/04/04/tni-recruited-assist-election-logistics.html