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Viewing cable 07SURABAYA67, EAST JAVA ELECTIONS COMMISSION: ELECTORAL POLITICS AND MUD

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07SURABAYA67 2007-11-02 09:36 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Surabaya
VZCZCXRO6278
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJS #0067/01 3060936
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020936Z NOV 07
FM AMCONSUL SURABAYA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0096
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0037
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0088
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 0011
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 0098
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0014
RUEHC/USAID WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0035
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SURABAYA 000067 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR USAID 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND EB/ESC/IEC 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/EAP 
DOE FOR CUTLER/PI-32 AND NAKANO/PI-42 
COMMERCE FOR USDOC 4430 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ENIV EPET ELAB ENRG PGOV ASEC ID EAID
SUBJECT: EAST JAVA ELECTIONS COMMISSION: ELECTORAL POLITICS AND MUD 
 
REF: SURABAYA 66 (AND PREVIOUS) 
 
SURABAYA 00000067  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary: On October 31, Consulate General Surabaya 
Pol/Econ Officer and Pol/Econ Assistant met with East Java 
Provincial Election Commission (KPU) officials.  They expressed 
concern that the mud flow disaster in Porong could affect 
election logistics for vast areas of East Java.  The highway and 
rail lines linking east to western East Java Province encounter 
a choke point at the town of Porong.  While the mud flow itself 
routinely causes delays, a greater concern is targeted protests 
by local residents holding ballot boxes hostage along the way. 
Elections officials also described the procedural challenges of 
registering a scattered refugee population and requested U.S. 
help in automating provincial vote counting. End Summary 
 
2.  (SBU)  During an October 31 meeting, KPU officials expressed 
concern that the mud flow disaster would have a disastrous 
impact on election logistics, both in the registration of voters 
and in the counting of ballots.  KPU officials told us that due 
to the inundation of local village registrars' offices by the 
mud, vital records needed to prove residence were lost.  While 
procedures exist to produce new documentation, there is no clear 
systematic means of contacting former residents, since a new 
voter registration list must be made for each local election 
under the election law.  Not only are most of mudflow victims 
widely scattered, many are also fearful of losing their right to 
compensation for their losses by registering elsewhere.  KPU 
officials explained that mud victims could reregister to vote in 
their new homes, but most do not for fear of losing proof of 
their former residence.  The residence card (or KTP) showing an 
address now buried under mud is the only evidence many displaced 
residents have to prove their entitlement to future 
compensation.  While the KTP is sufficient proof of identity in 
national elections, in provincial elections the voter must have 
proof of local residence and a new voter registration card. 
 
3.  (SBU) KPU officials estimated that the number of voters from 
mud-flow affected areas (excluding the victims of recent dyke 
collapses) is around 45,000 (reftel).  The East Java KPU has two 
proposals to handle the problem of registration.  First, asking 
the residents to gather in a district to be registered together 
as a notional village.  Or, all victims could be called to 
gather in one place and undergo verification of eligibility. 
There is no basis in election law to justify either solution, 
however.  The KPU requires a new legal umbrella in order to 
avoid controversy after the 2008 election. 
 
4.  (SBU) The deadline for promised compensation payments for 
mud flow victims is fast approaching.  Lapindo must fulfill its 
obligation to pay the remaining 80% of the emergency leasing 
support before May 2008, the second anniversary of the disaster. 
 The East Java gubernatorial election is planned for July 2008. 
If Lapindo fails to make good on its pledge for compensation, 
KPU officials believe that thousands of mudflow victims will 
hold massive demonstrations and block the main roads Surabaya 
and Sidoarjo with cities to the South and East.  A similar 
demonstration occurred for three full days last year and traffic 
came to a complete halt.  If history is repeated, distribution 
of blank ballots in advance of the election and the return of 
completed ballots after the election would be disrupted. 
 
Request for USG Assistance 
---------------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  KPU officials estimated that they will oversee 65,000 
polling booths, and facilitate the voting of approximately 29.4 
million voters during the East Java gubernatorial election. 
Officials told us that distribution and logistics hamper their 
efforts even in the best of circumstances; many polling places 
are so remote that it can take up to a week to reach.  In the 
past, the state energy company Pertamina assisted with shipping 
the ballots.  KPU officials are considering requesting 
assistance from the Indonesian Navy to reach outlying islands. 
A planned transition from manual to machine counted ballots 
cannot be made due to a lack of legal foundation.  KPU official 
Arif Budiman asked whether the U.S. Government could help East 
Java KPU computerize vote counting.  Budiman also noted that the 
 
SURABAYA 00000067  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Japanese Government helped Indonesia in the 2004 national 
elections by providing ballot boxes, but only 80% of them can be 
re-used. 
MCCLELLAND