A Bridge Over Troubled Water Between Indonesia and Australia

Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott, left, with Indonesia's President Joko Widodo. Ties between the two countries have been repeatedly tested over recent years. (Reuters Photo/G20 Australia)

 

 

Sydney/Jakarta. The future of Indonesian-Australian relations have plunged in to a labyrinth of uncertainty as allegations of Australian misconduct in handling asylum seekers prompts international relations experts to call for new methods of engagement between the neighboring countries.

Behind Prabowo’s Campaign to Become Indonesia’s President, a Questionable Crew

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) delivering his response during the third presidential debate tackling foreign policy and national defense issues in Jakarta on June 22, 2014. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)

Jabbing his finger repeatedly in the air, presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto shouted to supporters in a packed Jakarta stadium that the corrupt had no place in Indonesia.

“You who disgrace Indonesia, you who buy Indonesia … we must answer ‘No! Not this time! Indonesia wants to stand with dignity,’” the pugnacious former special forces general said to a roar of applause in a speech ahead of this week’s election.

Behind him, applauding, sat one of the most senior Indonesian officials ever to be investigated in a government probe into graft, who is also the head of a major Islamic party supporting Prabowo’s July 7 presidential bid.

Suryadharma Ali quit as the religious affairs minister in May after being named by Coruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of being involved in embezzling from the $5 billion state fund allocated for the pilgrimage to Mecca. Indonesia, the biggest economy in southeast Asia, has the world’s biggest population of Muslims.

Suryadharma has maintained his innocence. “Being made a suspect is not the final say on the matter,” he told local media.

But the presence of Suryadharma and others being investigated for corruption in his coalition raises the question of how effective Prabowo may be if he beats front-runner Joko Widodo to lead the world’s third-largest democracy for the next five years.

His other allies include the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), whose chairman was jailed over a beef import scandal, and the Golkar party of business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, several of whose members are facing corruption charges. Most of the allies are in the coalition of current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“The spirit of democracy is being damaged by various practices,” Prabowo said in a debate with his rival on Saturday. “I’m not saying there are no thieves in my party. But what I meant was this is a phenomenon in our country, who knows you might have them on your side.”

Prabowo’s brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo, a central figure in his campaign, said earlier: “We have to make a few unintentional, unwanted compromises. The Indonesian judicial system presumes, innocence before proven guilty, so I don’t want to comment on the recent cases. But we will not compromise on our basic thesis.”

Insiders say all of Prabowo’s coalition partners have been promised seats in the cabinet, including a special, senior position for Bakrie, the head of the Bakrie Group, a prominent resources-to-telecommunications conglomerate that has struggled with environmental and debt problems.

“Prabowo says ‘welcome’ to every political party. ‘Welcome what do you want? One, two, three positions?” said Fahmi Idris, a senior official with Golkar.

However, Bakrie spokesman Lalu Mara Satri Wangsa, who is also vice secretary general of Golkar, denied any deals had been agreed.

Prabowo has declined comment when asked about deal-making with coalition allies.

Three officials from his Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) did not return e-mailed requests for comment.

Close race

Opinion polls still have the popular and unassuming Joko in the lead, but the combative Prabowo, running on a platform of strong and effective government, is close behind. A crucial number of voters are undecided.

Transparency International ranks Indonesia 114th out of 177 countries it surveys on perception of corruption. The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report has said corruption remained “the most problematic factor for doing business” in Indonesia.

One of the world’s fastest growing countries just a few years ago, the economy is projected to be at its weakest in four years in 2014 because of falling prices of its commodity exports, a weak rupiah currency and patchy policy.

Despite Prabowo’s reputation as a strongman and his vow to reverse the indecisiveness of Yudhoyono’s outgoing government, markets are more likely to cheer a Jokowi win in the hope that he represents a change from Indonesia’s old-style horse-trading in politics.

“Jokowi represents a break with that kind of past. There is a lot of hope invested in political change of the kind that Jokowi represents,” said Tim Condon, ING Asia’s chief economist.

The rupiah has fallen around five percent over the past three months, accompanying a steady narrowing in the lead Jokowi had in opinion polls over Prabowo. The stock market, Asia’s worst performer in 2013 in dollar terms, has fallen almost 3 percent since mid-May, when Joko’s lead started slipping.

The strongman

Prabowo was once married to a daughter of former iron ruler Suharto, and was a favored member of his inner circle at the time.

He has been dogged by persistent allegations of past human rights abuses, in particular during the economic crisis that led to Suharto’s downfall in 1998. Shortly thereafter, Prabowo was discharged from the army for breaking the chain of command and ordering troops to arrest activists.

But he was never investigated on any criminal charge and has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Now 62, this is his third shot at the presidency.

Prabowo also caused a flutter last week with comments that suggested to some analysts that he may try to turn the clock back on Indonesia’s transition to a full democracy after Suharto’s three decades of autocratic rule.

“There are many things (from the West) that we implement, that we imitate, out of our own simplicity,” he said at a seminar in Jakarta. “It turns out that these things aren’t appropriate for our culture. But it’s already a fact. For example, direct [presidential] elections.”

But he was quick to retract.

“I believe in democracy. I was a soldier, a professional soldier. And I swore an oath to defend the Indonesian constitution … This is already my third general election. So I do it the hard way. I don’t go and assemble tanks and take over parliament house,” he told a later meeting.

Firman Noor, a political analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said even if Prabowo was so inclined, there was very little likelihood that Indonesians would allow a move away from full democracy.

“It will be a step to political suicide for Prabowo to pursue this when he knows there will be almost no support for it,” he said.

Prabowo did not speak to Reuters for this article. But in an interview two years ago, he said what Indonesia needed was a strong government.

“There are always leaders and people who will look for reasons not to try anything new. But the Indonesian leadership must have the will, the toughness, the character, the courage, to think and try to look for creative solutions,” he said.

“I was brought up with the motto ‘who dares, wins’ and I think it is time for the Indonesian elite to dare.”

Additional reporting by Fransiska Nangoy in Jakarta and Aubrey Belford in Bangkok

Reuters

In Closing Debate, Joko Promises Bureaucratic ‘Breakthrough’, While Prabowo Strives for ‘A Dignified Nation’

Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, left, and running mate Hatta Rajasa listen as rival Joko Widodo, right, speaks in the final and fifth debate in Jakarta, on July 5, 2014. (Antara Photo/Prasetyo Utomo)

Jakarta. In closing the debate, presidential candidate Joko Widodo promised that he would bring about “renewal and breakthrough” in the nation’s bureaucracy to ensure that Indonesia’s interests will not only benefit a certain group of people.

Meanwhile, rival Prabowo Subianto promised that he would transform Indonesia into “a dignified nation.”

Joko said that from the very start, when his coalition was formed, he never engaged in transactional politics, meaning that he never promised positions or money in exchange for support from other political parties.

He added that his coalition is one where “unconditional cooperation” exists.

“Our nation … has many problems. But we are certain, that for every problem, there is a solution,” he said. “We are here for change … we are here to present to you, realistic approaches.”

He gave special emphasis to the Indonesian-ness of his being, perhaps in response to the black campaign efforts which have called into question his ethnic and religious status.

“We, Jokowi-JK, will only bow to the constitution,” Joko said, referring to his vice presidential running mate Jusuf Kalla. “And we, Jokowi-JK, will always be loyal to the people of this Republic of Indonesia.”

He ended his closing statement by citing a Muslim prayer, praying to God that the people of Indonesia may be blessed.

Prabowo stated that he is keen to “build a strong democracy.” He also remarked that, if elected, he will prioritize improving the welfare of Indonesians.

He also said that he is keen to create a “producing” nation, one that “not only buys goods from other countries.”

In closing, Prabowo said that “tonight is the end of a political campaign that has been quite lengthy.”

“We want to build a strong democracy. We, Prabowo-Hatta and the coalition that supports us, promise that should we receive the nation’s mandate, we will work with all our strength in order to prioritize the sovereignty, the prosperity of our Indonesia,” he said, referring to his vice presidential running mate Hatta Rajasa.

Prabowo said that no matter the result of the presidential election, he will “respect the decision of the people of Indonesia” for the sake of the “nation and the country that we love.”

A race that started out with a large deficit for Prabowo, the former army general, has since evolved into a neck-to-neck scramble for the Presidential Palace. Indonesians will go to the poll on Wednesday to select a successor to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose second five-year term ends in October.

Jokowi Lashes Out at TVOne’s PKI Sympathizer Label

A police line around TVOne’s Yogyakarta bureau, which was vandalized by supporters over allegations of communism. (JG Photo/Boy T. Harjanto)

Bandung/Jakarta. Presidential candidate Joko Widodo has lambasted suggestions that he is a communist sympathizer, made on a television station owned by an ally of rival candidate Prabowo Subianto.

“This is a very serious insult for me personally, for my parents and my family,” Joko said at a press conference in Bandung on Thursday.

Joko, who has been a target of mounting smear campaigns and false accusations about his political views, his religious beliefs and even his ethnicity in days leading up to the July 9 election, said he had been trying hard remain patient and practice self-restraint throughout the campaign.

“We have ignore [the accusations], but then they only became bigger. The last one had to do with the PKI,” he said, referring to the long-banished Indonesian Communist Party.

“They also [at one point] touched on the subject of my parents. I think I have been too kind and patient,” he said.

He emphasized that he had been transparent and honest about his family background and his political stance.

“The media knows my family, my house, who my parents are — what is there to explain? I have been very open, I hope the media will not provoke anyone,” Joko said.

Jakarta-based broadcaster TVOne aired a news package on Wednesday in which one of its sources accused Joko’s party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), of comprising of former members of the PKI, as well as being a party disliked by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police.

TVOne is owned by the family of the Bakrie family, led Aburizal Bakrie, the chairman of the Golkar Party — one of the seven parties in Prabowo’s coalition.

Shortly after midnight on Thursday, a PDI-P-affiliated organization called the Volunteers for Democratic Struggle (Repdem) rallied outside TVOne’s headquarter in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, in protest at the station’s report. Another group vandalized the station’s Yogyakarta bureau.

Repdem chairman and PDI-P member Masinton Pasaribu, who said the Jakarta protest was initiated by the organization and not the PDI-P, demanded that the TV station clarify the accusation.

“How TVOne put it [the report] on a news program is libel against the PDI-P. We are very offended and disappointed with the defamation. It’s the same as the stigma spread during the New Order era,” he said, referring to the tactic practiced by the regime of the late strongman Suharto of labeling anyone who was critical of the government a communist sympathizer.

Masinton also accused TVOne of being biased in its coverage, and said it had no right to “abuse” the public broadcasting frequency to “spread lies.”

Repdem said it would report TVOne to the Press Council, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) and the Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu).

“Let the Press Council and the KPI hand down the punishment,” Masinton said.

Megawati Soekarnoputri, the PDI-P chairwoman, whose own father, former president Sukarno, was deposed by Suharto on accusations that he was too soft on the PKI, lamented what she called a smear campaign and urged restraint by all sides with less than a week to go before the election.

“To all members of the press, we encourage collaboration so that the press can really be fair and speak the truth to the people,” she said on Thursday.

“The one-sided reports attacking Joko and linking him to communism are a cruel accusation.”

She also called on all PDI-P members and supporters of Joko not to rise to the bait and to keep the peace.

“We should keep our dignity throughout, yet keep pushing for the enforcement of the law through the police, prosecutors, Bawaslu, KPI and the Press Council,” she said.

Meanwhile, TVOne public relations managed Raldi Roy said the company had taken duly noted the protests and conveyed the complaints to the station’s editorial team.

“The aspiration from our PDI-P friends is critical and I have taken note of this,” Raldi said.

“We have corresponded with the PDI-P and we have clarified the news report. We will not air [the package in question] any more.”

However, Fadli Zon, a deputy chairman of Prabowo’s Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), said the fact that the PDI-P supporters had vandalized TVOne’s Yogyakarta office was in itself “a communist strategy.”

“The act of protesting at TVOne headquarters as instructed by PDI-P secretary general Tjahjo Kumolo is a communist strategy. This ruins democracy,” he tweeted on Thursday.

“Tjahjo’s strategy is a panicked reaction. The press is an integral pillar of this nation’s democracy. To intimidate the press is to go against democracy.”

Djayadi Hanan, the research director at Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting, a pollster, agreed that the action of the Joko supporters in Yogyakarta should be condemned.

“Vandalizing the offices of a television station is never the right thing to do,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday. “The group should have resorted to a more civil process for redress, by asking for clarification directly rather than taking the law into their own hands.”

Djayadi warned that the attack could hurt Joko’s poll ratings, especially given how fast Prabowo was catching up, with most pollsters putting the gap between the two candidates in the single digits.

By ID/Novy Lumanauw, SP/Hotman Siregar & Vita A.D. Busyra on 10:05 am Jul 04, 2014

Joko Calls for Crackdown on Campaign Smears

Presidential candidate Joko Widodo speaks at the Chinese 

Indonesian Association (INTI) in Bandung, West Java, on

 July 2, 2014. At a press conference on July 3,  he called 

on the police to take stronger action against smear 

campaigns.  (Antara Foto/Widodo S. Jusuf)

Bandung. Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) presidential candidate Joko Widodo urged police to take stronger action against smear campaigns, which have intensified in the run-up to the July 9 election.

“There are many black campaigns because there is no daring law enforcement,” Joko said, using the local term for campaign smear tactics. He spoke on Thursday in a press conference at the Holiday Inn in Bandung, West Java — with vice presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla standing by his side.

“Firm action must be taken without fear and without pressure from any political party,” Joko said. “Stop overthinking, just do it. If law enforcement is not being upheld, [the perpetrators] will keep on doing it.”

He called on the police to take an aggressive stand and arrest potential perpetrators proactively, letting the courts decide their guilt or innocence.

“If [police] are daring enough, I guarantee [perpetrators] would think twice about committing black campaigns,” he said.

Joko has been targeted by a smear campaign on the part of “Obor Rakyat,” a tabloid distributed in Islamic boarding schools claiming that Joko is a Chinese Christian in secret.

The PDI-P responded by distributing pamphlets showing Joko, a Javanese Muslim, at Mecca with his family.

Police said they were still looking into the matter.

The Prabowo Subianto campaign has been targeted by former presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar, who uploaded a “gallery of rogues” featuring the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) candidate alongside the Bali bombers and Osama bin Laden. Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic organization, has filed a case with the police to investigate for the group’s inclusion in the gallery. The organization has a longstanding tradition of avoiding involvement in politics and has not endorsed either candidate. Indonesians go to the polls on July 9.

By SP/Hotman Siregar on 05:32 pm Jul 03, 2014

Direct Elections Are Un-Indonesian: Prabowo

Presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto, seen greeting supporters during a campaign rally in Denpasar, Bali on June 28, 2014, is critical of direct elections for leaders.  (EPA Photo/Made Nagi)

Jakarta. Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto has indicated that, if elected, he would begin the process of winding back the electoral system in favor of a “consultative” approach he says is more in keeping with Indonesian cultural traditions.

Speaking at a “Cultural Dialog with Presidential Candidates” event at Jakarta’s Taman Ismail Marzuki on Saturday, Prabowo began by saying that Indonesians had a tendency to be overly influenced by Western ideas such as democracy.

“Consciously or not, our elites were all Western-educated — Bung Karno, Bung Hatta, Bung Sjahrir, and including myself. We’re products of the West,” Prabowo said, rhetorically placing himself among the founders of the modern Indonesian state.

As such, said Prabowo, elites presume that Western ideas such as one man, one vote and direct elections for provincial and national leaders are the best on offer.

“Even though they’re not appropriate for us. Like direct elections — we’ve already gone down that path. But it’s like someone addicted to smoking; if we ask them to stop, the process will be difficult,” Prabowo said.

“I believe much of our current political and economic systems go against our nation’s fundamental philosophy, laws and traditions, and against the 1945 Constitution,” he said.

“Many of these ideas that we have applied are disadvantageous to us, they do not suit our culture,” Prabowo said.

Ikrar Nusa Bakti, a political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said that Prabowo’s remarks raised a sinister question.

“Is he going to change our system if elected? What does he mean by saying that free elections do not suit us?” Ikrar said. “His behavior worries me.”

On Saturday Prabowo returned to a phrase he has often used during campaign speeches around the country — “a return to the 1945 Constitution” — but it is a slogan which few ordinary Indonesians really understand. The Constitution, unamended, concentrates authority in the position of the president.

Article 37 of the Indonesian constitution allows the Constitution to be amended by approval of two-thirds of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR). This avenue was used to introduce checks and balances against sweeping presidential power during the reform period beginning in 1998, and it is those which Prabowo apparently intends to remove.

Prabowo said that in order to move away again from direct elections, what would be required is a “consensus of the political elite,” which would include cultural, religious and labor leaders.

Arbi Sanit, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia, said that, “If Prabowo is elected, that shows he has the popular backing for such a change.”

On the other hand, such a change would seem a far stretch from what Indonesia is today. The country has successfully positioned itself as the most democratic nation in South East Asia. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index published in 2012 showed that Indonesia, overall, fared better than its neighbors in holding free and fair national elections as well as in ensuring the security of voters and civil liberties.

Prabowo’s remarks were made in the wake of a recent disclosure by American journalist, Allan Nairn, of quotes from his off-the-record interview with Prabowo conducted in Jakarta in June and July 2001. Nairn recounted that Prabowo “ranted about Gus Dur and democracy,” saying that “Indonesia is not ready for democracy,” because “we still have cannibals, there are violent mobs.”

Nairn also wrote that Prabowo is looking to establish an “authoritarian regime” in Indonesia.

‘Regressive’

“Going back to pre-98 is not a solution to the country’s problems,” Aleksius Jemadu, political analyst from Pelita Harapan University, said, referring to the authoritarian New Order era.

“Are we going back to square one?” he said. “I think today we are already at a point of no return, he cannot use a strongman approach, look at the dispersion of power today, there are many parties. He cannot do that.”

Siti Zuhro, a political researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), was equally critical of Prabowo’s regressive rhetoric.

“If he is going to turn back time on our democratic system, that is not how it should be,” she said.

“There should have been a social contract for him to pledge to defend this system that we have tried so hard to establish for 16 years,” she added.

Arbi was more scathing in his criticism of Prabowo’s anti-democratic remarks.

“Someone who is anti-democratic like him is not fit to lead Indonesia,” Arbi Sanit said.

“It is open now. He has a bad track record on democracy. Now he also has negative thoughts about democracy,” Arbi said.

“The world has embraced democracy. Indonesia is also better off for it. Indonesia is democratic now, but [Prabowo] does not approve,” he said.

Arbi added that without a democratic system of governance, there is no assurance of human rights, freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

“We need democracy, but a democracy where there is the strength of the majority and one that is supervised by opposition. That will ensure our nation’s stability,” Arbi said.

Trojan horse?

Ikrar Nusa Bakti said that Prabowo’s anti-democratic remarks showed “his true self.”

“He does not believe in democracy, but he wants to be elected through democratic means, this is the laughable part,” Ikrar said.

“He does not believe in democracy. That was why he kidnapped pro-democracy activists in the past,” Ikrar said.

Earlier in May, 41-year-old Mugiyanto, a pro-democracy activist during the 1998 reform struggle, told the AFP about his three-day long interrogation and detainment at the hands of Prabowo’s special forces.

“The most painful part was when I heard my friend being tortured,” Mugiyanto told the AFP.

More recently on June 19, Prabowo responded to requests by Reuters to interview him by warning that they “may not challenge him on his human rights record.”

Experts on Indonesian politics, Edward Aspinall and Marcus Mietzner from the Australian National University remarked that Prabowo’s blatant disrespect of democracy and free elections was worrying and echoed the rise of fascism in Europe in the early 20th century.

“It is very rare in the modern world for would-be autocrats to openly state that they want to destroy the electoral system through which they seek to achieve power,” the political analysts said on an Australian National University official website.

“They mostly mask such intentions before they are elected. We probably need to go back to the fascist movement of 1930s Europe to find such explicitly authoritarian sentiments expressed by electoral movements that end up winning elections.”

‘Do not misinterpret Prabowo’

Viva Yoga Mauladi, Prabowo’s campaign spokesperson, said that Prabowo’s comments have been misinterpreted.

Viva said that what Prabowo referred to in his speech at Taman Ismail Marzuki was the “excess of democracy.”

“Excess meaning the negative impacts of direct elections. For example, things that undermine democracy itself, such as money politics and the lowering of social cohesiveness,” Viva said. “That is what Prabowo really means. So do not misinterpret Prabowo as anti-democratic and intolerant.”

With respect to Allan Nairn’s quoting of Prabowo’s comments in 2001, Viva questioned the journalist’s credibility.

“I don’t know about Allan Nairn, what sort of journalist is he? What does he represent, the Washington Post? It is not clear at all,” he said with a laugh.

“Prabowo is very committed to Indonesia’s democratic progress,” Viva said.

Correction: A previous version of this story listed the reform period as starting in 1988. It is 1998.

By Josua Gantan on 08:20 am Jul 01, 2014

Another Top Democrat Breaks Party Line on Presidential Pick

Jakarta. Despite the Democratic Party’s official support for presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Hatta Rajasa, several top party officials have said they are backing their rivals, Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla.

Hayono Isman, a member of Democrats’ advisory council and one of the participants in the ruling party’s presidential convention, announced his intention to break ranks on Tuesday.

“I, Hayono Isman, along with my wife and my children declare our support for Jokowi-JK,” he said on Tuesday, referring to the candidates by their nicknames, as reported by newsportal Liputan6.com.

Hayono, a serving member of the House of Representatives, said he supported the pair because he believed in their integrity and good track records.

“There are four reasons why I support them. They are both genuine, honest, free from human rights abuse issues and corruption, and last but not least they are married. Those are four reasons that easily can be accepted by public,” he said.

Prabowo married former President Suharto’s daughter Titiek but the couple got divorced after the strongman’s downfall in 1998.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party had announced on Monday its formal support for Prabowo and Hatta. Yudhoyono had previously stated that the party would remain neutral in the presidential election.

Earlier, Democratic Party politician and Yudhoyono loyalist Ruhut Sitompul had already declared his support for Joko and Kalla. Another senior Democrat, Nova Riyanti Yusuf, was allegedly relieved of her post as deputy head of the House of Representatives’ Commission IX in June because she refused to support the Prabowo-Hatta pair.

Max Sopacua, deputy chairman of the party, said that sanctions would be imposed on Hayono and Nova after the presidential election.

“Regarding sanctions, we will take care of them after the presidential election. At the moment we are concentrating on mobilizing the party to help Prabowo-Hatta win,” Max was quoted as saying by Detik.com.

Other senior Democrats in the Joko-Kalla camp are State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan and Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan.

By Jakarta Globe on 10:44 pm Jul 02, 2014

Nairn: Prabowo Is a Pawn of the United States

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto delivers a speech before the Indonesian Council of World Affairs in Jakarta on June 30, 2014. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)

Jakarta. Speaking to a select group of Indonesian press at an undisclosed Jakarta location on Tuesday, controversial American journalist Allan Nairn emphasized that a Prabowo Subianto win, come election day, will “absolutely” serve the interests of America in all of the wrong ways.

The secret meeting was scheduled to coincide with the release of Nairn’s second article based on an off-the-record conversation he had with Prabowo in 2001.

Speaking of the article — which details Prabowo’s links to the highest echelons of American government, big business and military including a handful of presidents, the Central Intelligence Agency as well as the Pentagon — Nairn deemed Prabowo’s nationalist campaign as a “scam” and “a 180-degree inversion of the truth.”

Asked why Prabowo’s so-called connections with the United States is of concern for Indonesians heading to the polls, Nairn told the Jakarta Globe that the web of economic interest, old intelligence associations and military cooperation that bind Prabowo and his family to US corporations and the Pentagon is so tight that one-sided American business interests as well as the US military will flourish with a Prabowo presidency.

“He should stop claiming that he is the hero who is going to stand up to America, that he is going to stand up to the foreign corporations and stop their exploitation because they become empty words,” said Nairn, who last week challenged the former lieutenant general to a day in court in an attempt to validate his claims.

Having been declared by the Indonesian Military “as a threat to national security” during his time reporting in East Timor’s fight for independence, Nairn is clearly no stranger to the country and of provoking those in power. He avoided a 10-year prison sentence in 1999 for defying a government ban on reporting in Dili.

It is not clear exactly how long Nairn has been here, or how he entered the country. However, judging by the unusual circumstances surrounding the press conference, the numerous cell phones he was juggling and the reported safe houses organized for him throughout the capital, he is an unwelcome visitor.

Nairn is currently preparing a third installment to his series, focusing on Prabowo’s links to the National Security Agency and his involvement in militia terror.

By Rebecca Lake on 08:41 pm Jul 02, 2014

Most Election Violations During Counting, Constitutional Court Says

Hundreds of electoral commission workers prepare ballot papers for the upcoming presidential election in Depok, Indonesia, on June 25, 2014. Indonesians go to the polls on July 9. (EPA Photo/Adi Weda)

Jakarta. The Constitutional Court has warned that based on recent legislative election cases it has handled, most election violations were committed during the vote counting process.

“Our evaluation shows that violations mostly occurred during vote counting, or the recapitulation process at the village, ward and subdistrict level. That’s where opportunities for violations are high. The MK [Constitutional Court] trial did not find many violations committed at the district level,” Chief Justice Hamdan Zoelva said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Although he did not provide statistics, Hamdan maintained that few violations were committed during the voting process as opposed to the vote counting process.

Hamdan expressed his hope that the General Elections Commission (KPU) and Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) would take note of the problems especially now that the presidential election is near.

“Surely the polling committees need to take note of this,” Hamdan said.

Jerry Sumampouw, coordinator of the Indonesian Voters Committee (TEPI), said presidential candidates treated surveys as benchmarks for their campaigns and if the surveys showed their electability declining, they could manipulate the election process to rig the vote.

“The potential for violations is big by paying or bribing election committee members. This is very likely given the lack of supervision on this matter,” Jerry said.

He said violations were committed mostly by poll committee members (PPS) on the ward level and poll committee members at the subdistrict level (PPK). 

 

He said that aside from lower risks, the violations were also encouraged by a lack of strict sanctions, adding that criminal sanction should be imposed to serve as a deterrent to violators.

“All this time there had only been administrative sanctions but they failed to serve as a deterrent,” Jerry lamented.

Multiple security layers

Emrus Sihombing, director of pollster Emrus Corner, said violations can still be prevented with multiple security layers.

“Violations can be overcome with the introduction of multiple security layers. First of all, by compiling written reports on the results of vote counts at polling stations, with officials and witnesses taking photos of it with smartphones and immediately sending it to the KPU in the district or city, provincial or central level through MMS,” Emrus said.

Afterwards the ballot boxes that were transported to districts should be under constant police supervision.

He also suggested that every ballot box should be equipped with at least three padlocks.

“There should be at least three padlocks on every electoral box, one from the KPU, and one each from the witnesses of both presidential candidates, with each of them having a different password,” Emrus suggested.

Volunteers for the Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla camp said they have found several kinds of violations.

Aside from the smear campaign through the distribution of Obor Rakyat tabloid, which was published by Setiyardi Budiono, a member of the presidential office, Joko’s camp had also been on the receiving end of intimidation and violence, to prevent them from winning, said Sinnal Blegur, head of the National Committee for the Victory of Joko-Kalla .

Sinnal said volunteers have also found money politics committed by their rival in order to win voters’ sympathy.

In Pemalang, Central Java, ballot papers were discovered with the picture of the Prabowo-Hatta camp already punctured, which suggests a vote for the pair.

Hendrik Sirait, secretary general of the Alliance of Civilians for Great Indonesia (Almisbat), said he had difficulties to obtain a permit to hold a gathering to declare his organization’s support for Joko-Kalla in Garut, West Java, on Saturday.

Hendrik said Almisbat was also banned from putting up banners for security reasons.

“Various Jokowi-JK campaign items weren’t allowed to be placed at strategic places. This is contradictory to Prabowo-Hatta campaign items that were allowed to be placed in every part of the city,” Hendrik said.

He said the wards in West Java were also not neutral.

“This made villagers afraid to wear or use T-shirts bearing Jokowi’s picture,” the Almisbat secretary general said.

By Jakarta Globe on 09:05 am Jul 02, 2014