Vaudine England, Jakarta – Prospects of a free and fair election in the troubled province of Aceh are fading by the day, and the presence of extra troops may be a hindrance rather than a help.
"Yes there are several areas in Aceh with problems," said a source at a main independent election monitoring organisation.
"We have reports of intimidation against our volunteers. The intimidation is by the TNI [Indonesian Defence Force] and by the civil service. They even pay visits to the homes of our volunteers."
Workers sent to Aceh by another election monitoring group, Unfrel, are reported to be requesting that their names be left off election ID cards to protect themselves.
Foreign election observers are also having second thoughts. The Philippines' National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) has halved a planned contingent of 200 monitors, and they will not be sent to north Sumatra, which includes Aceh.
Namfrel chairman Jose Concepcion said "peace and order" were the main reasons for the turnaround: "We don't want to expose any of our volunteers" to danger.
The military claims members of the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) movement are trying to scupper the national elections in favour of a referendum on independence. But many other sources say it is the military which is opposed to a peaceful election in the province.
"The last thing they want is peace and stability," said a source at the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
"The military's aim may well be to make the area ungovernable, thereby justifying their continued presence."
Four days after troops killed at least 41 civilians near Lhokseumawe on May 3, another 400 special troops arrived in Aceh.
"[They are] for the election," said the local regent, Tarmizi Karim. We want to keep the people feeling free for the election."
It was announced that the fresh troops would be helping people to register to vote. If independent monitors are unable to do their job out of fear of the military, Aceh's chance of participating in the national poll appear slim.