Sampang – Indonesia held an unprecedented re-vote on Madura island yesterday following violence in last week's general election, but many in the area appeared to have stayed away from the polls.
The re-vote of more than 40,000 voters was held in Sampang district on the island off East Java yesterday amid tight security.
It was ordered after supporters of the Muslim-backed United Development Party (PPP) went on a rampage after the May 29 election and burned ballot boxes on reports that the ruling Golkar party was sweeping the polls.
At the number six booth in Rongtengah, an area of Sampang with a number of Islamic schools, the head of the booth, Mr Fattah, said there were 531 registered voters, of whom 506 voted last week.
But yesterday, the only voters were the eight officials manning the booth.
"I don't know why they didn't come. The eight votes were only those of the polling station officials and witnesses," he told Reuters. Other polling stations had more voters, but the overall turnout appeared to be down sharply. The official results were to be released in Surabaya today. Golkar, in power for most of President Suharto's rule, swept last week's poll with more than 74 per cent of the vote. The PPP took just under 23 per cent and the fragmented Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), the only other party entitled to contest the polls, won 3 per cent.
The government imposed tight military and police security on Madura to prevent a recurrence of last week's rioting, in which offices, homes, shops and a church were burned or damaged and polling boxes from Sampang destroyed.
East Java military commander Major-General Imam Utomo had issued a shoot-on-the-spot order in case of further violence, Antara reported.
In Jakarta, the PPP and the PDI said they had witnessed a number of irregularities in the election in which nearly 90 per cent of the 125 million eligible voters cast their ballots.
The 27-day campaign also saw the worst political violence in three decades, primarily between supporters of the PPP and Golkar. Financial markets were carefully monitoring the actions of the PPP, which was due to meet today to decide whether to accept the result, for fear of further violence.
Sampang, a sleepy coastal town of about 100,000 people, was quiet yesterday 12under heavy security. The central market and many shops were closed as shopkeepers said they feared more violence.
Officials originally said the re-vote, unprecedented in Indonesia's history, would be held at 86 polling stations. But the head of the Sampang regency, Mr Fadhilah Budiono, said 21 of the vote boxes believed destroyed had been found.
The PPP had said it would not supply witnesses for yesterday's re-vote, but stopped short of calling for an illegal boycott.
It appeared that polling booth officers were hauling in passers-by to act as witnesses to make up the numbers.