Moch. N. Kurniawan and Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) received on Tuesday an anonymous package containing 11 live bullets addressed to each of its members and a letter demanding that the Commission adopt certain specifications in the tender of ballot boxes for the elections next year.

It was the first time the commission received a threat since it began operating almost two years ago as an independent body.

A staff member at KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin's office said she received the suspicious A4-size envelope, which was delivered in person by an unidentified man at about 5:00 p.m.

"I have never seen this man before. He just handed the letter to us and disappeared," she told reporters.

"From its cover, it looks like the letter came from Bakin, and is addressed to Pak Nazaruddin and Mulyana W. Kusumah (KPU member). It is shocking, as the letter contains 11 bullets," she said.

Bakin is the former State Intelligence Coordinating Board, which was replaced by the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) in October 2000.

Three KPU employees brought the package to the Menteng Police, Central Jakarta.

The police found the second page of the letter said the KPU was to provide ballot boxes made of steel or an alloy of steel and aluminum. It also specified that the tender for the procurement of the steel ballot boxes must be awarded to local businessmen, while the tender for the procurement of the alloy ballot boxes must be given to Chinese-Indonesian businessmen.

"Don't force us to commit murder. The choice is in your hands," read the first page of the letter, written in red.

The police discovered two FN bullets the sender said were for Nazaruddin and Mulyana, and nine CIS bullets addressed to the other members of the Commission. Mulyana is in charge of the ballot box tenders.

Security at the KPU office on Jl. Imam Bonjol is apparently lax, with people entering the building freely without undergoing any identification checks.

The KPU and the National Police had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in April that obliged the latter to guard the KPU building and its members.

Menteng Police chief Comr. Sahardiantono said more police officers would be deployed to secure the KPU building, following the anonymous threat. At present, only four officers are posted at KPU building.

Meanwhile, KPU secretary-general Safder Yusacc said the Commission would intensify the security on its premises.

"The written threat and the bullets is absolutely not the right way to criticize the KPU ... We will certainly increase the security in the building," he said, after a 10-minute meeting with KPU chairman Nazaruddin discussing the apparent death threat.

Another KPU member, Hamid Awaluddin, echoed the sentiment. "If the person who wrote this letter alleges that KPU is unfair in conducting a tender, he or she can complain in a fair manner – not by sending us an anonymous threat," he said.

National Police deputy spokesman Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis said police would investigate the incident to uncover the sender, as well the motive, behind the threat.

"This cannot be categorized as terrorism, because it does not cause fear among the public. It is, simply, a threat," said Zainuri.

Commenting on the MOU between KPU and the police, Zainuri said that the agreement would be applied as a general policy to safeguard persons, activities and ballot boxes. The police operation is to be called Mantab Brata 2004.

"But, of course, we (police) cannot guarantee the safety of every person in the KPU, as well as the building. No one and nothing is immune to a possible attack. We will deploy police personnel, but still we cannot guarantee absolute safety," he said.

The KPU is organizing the legislative election, which is scheduled for April 5, 2004, and the presidential election in two rounds, on July 5 and September 20.

The seminar, which began on Thursday, recommended that universities should play a more significant role in the national reform movement, which many say has not been effective as evidenced by increased corruption, human rights abuses and other cases of extreme violence.

"We have all agreed that universities are the only institutions that have the moral authority to push for the right kinds of change," Sofian said.

He said that with a national movement, the universities would provide and disseminate proper information to voters which outline the necessary criteria for the country's next administration, so citizens would not be duped into voting for anti-reformists in next year's elections.

Sofian felt quite strongly that the universities could serve as a strong moral force to put the nation's reform movement back on course in a peaceful, constitutional manner.

The seminar, hosted by UGM to help Indonesia reformulate the goals of the reform movement and put it back on track, ended with some recommendations to resolve the various crises the country was facing.

The recommendations included the need for revisions of the amended 1945 Constitution by involving public participation, so as to be more representative and comprehensive.

The highly respected participants at the seminar also concluded that there was a need for the country to produce clean, intelligent and strong leaders capable of creating mutual trust as social capital. It was also suggested that a collective leadership would be better for crisis-ridden Indonesia under the current condition.

Djamaluddin Ancok of the UGM's School of Psychology, which chaired a session to draft the recommendations, highlighted the need to make the seminar's results an "anticipatory concept" in case the outcome of the upcoming elections failed to satisfy the nation.

"We have agreed that the electoral process should be carried out according to the Constitution. But should there be something wrong with it, we are ready to come up with a concept of collective leadership as an alternative for the country," he said.

Sofian further said that the country, home to some 212 million people, was immersed in an emergency situation, for which it is in a dire need of a proper solution to its complicated problems.

An opportunity for such a solution would be available to the citizenry in the 2004 elections, he added. However, he said that as the election was just a few months away, cooperation was most urgent among all community members to make the 2004 polls a success and elect a capable, responsible administration.

Calls for a revolution to mend the country's chaotic conditions also surfaced in the three-day seminar. But Sofian said that he personally saw the idea would be ineffective due to its unpredictable risks.

"A revolution would indeed create change quickly, but it's too unpredictable. We can have a revolution but the person who will take over power could be worse than those of the present time. We don't want such a risk," he said.