Indonesia holds world’s most complex election

PRESS RELEASE
Issued by the Indonesian Embassy
Information and Cultural Section
P.O. Box 3545, 70 Glen Road,
Kelburn W E L L I N G T O N

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

No: 268/04/IV/2004

Indonesia successfully holds world’s most complex election

Indonesia held its historic legislative election on 5 April 2004. The General Election Commission (KPU) registered more than 147 millions eligible voters across the country who selected a new 550-seat national parliament, a new assembly of provincial delegates, and regional and local assemblies.

The election was considered one of the most logistically complicated in the world given the sheer number of polling stations (595,000), the number of electoral districts (2,025) and the number of candidates (448,705) vying for 15,276 electoral seats.

"The most complex single electoral event in world history took place here in Indonesia," said Glyn Ford, who headed 231 observers in the European Union's largest-ever electoral monitoring mission. He said the election campaign allowed pluralistic competition between parties and the KPU generally managed its formidable task well. On election day, polling and counting took place in a transparent and orderly way, Ford said. "April 5 marked an important step in the consolidation of Indonesia's democracy," he said.

The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) declared that the parliamentary election was successful. The election had been carried out in a peaceful and credible manner, despite some unsuccessful minor attempts to disrupt it in Aceh Province. Independent monitor groups have professed satisfaction in the smooth handling of the voting at polling stations across the country. Various civil society organizations have found that voters considered the legislative elections as clean and fair.

Furthermore, the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) found that there were no recorded violations in Aceh, Bengkulu, Lampung, West Java, Bali and Central Kalimantan provinces. In Aceh Province as at 19 April 2004, the Golkar Party was leading in the provisional results for the Provincial House of Representatives. This was followed by PPP (United Development Party) and PAN (National Mandate Party). As at 19 April 2004, the total votes counted in Aceh amounted to 2,038,463 valid votes (76.1%) out of a total of 2,679,403 voters in Aceh. Meanwhile as at 21 April 2004, the PPP (United Development Party) was leading in the provisional results in Aceh for the National House of Representatives. This was followed by the Golkar Party and PAN (National Mandate Party).

Wellington, 21 April 2004

-end-

© Scoop Media