SECURITY DURING GENERAL ELECTIONS TO BE PRIORITIZED by Fardah

  Jakarta, Jan 17, 2014 (Antara) - Ahead of the legislative and presidential elections scheduled on April 9 and July 9, respectively, the government has laid emphasis on securing the implementation of the elections, often dubbed a "party of  democracy" in Indonesia.

        During a recently held National Police (Polri) and Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) leadership meeting, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on the security authorities not to treat the security measures during the implementation of the general elections as routine tasks.

         The meeting themed "Police Ready to Secure 2014 General Elections," was attended by 336 military and police officials, and some cabinet ministers.

         "Both TNI and Polri need to understand the fact that they should not treat their tasks as routine. One task may differ from the other, in regard to security arrangements for the general elections," Yudhoyono told the TNI and Polri leaders.       
     He emphasized the importance of maintaining law and order during the elections in order to assure the people that they can cast their votes freely.

          The head of state expressed hope that the upcoming general elections will be as peaceful, successful, democratic, fair, and orderly, as those held in 2004 and 2009, when Indonesia held its first and second direct elections.

          The Polri and the National General Election Commission (KPU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on security arrangements for the general elections on January 16, 2013.

        "The MoU will ensure that the general elections happen smoothly," the former national police chief General Timur Pradopo stated last year.

         The government has reportedly approved the allocation of funds amounting to one trillion rupiah for the police in order to secure the elections, which are held once in five years. The Police actually proposed Rp3.5 trillion for securing the upcoming elections.          
    General Sutarman, the current police chief, recently noted that the Polri will begin deploying its personnel in order to intensify the security arrangements during the legislative election campaigns commencing in March.

          "We will initiate the deployment of the security personnel when the legislative election campaigning starts on March 16. The election pacification period will last for 224 days until the inauguration of the newly elected President," he recently remarked.

           Sutarman explained that the 224 days comprised 21 days during the campaigning period, three days during the calm down period, and one day for the polling scheduled to be held on April 9.

          "We have made the requisite preparations in advance, which cover the measures to safeguard the ballot boxes and logistics related to the elections," claimed the Police Chief.

         The general cited money politics, black campaigning in elections, and terrorism as examples of issues that may potentially arise during the elections.

         "We will take anticipatory steps through preventative measures, create favorable conditions, and enforce the law whenever there are any legal violations," Sutarman noted.

          He earlier stated that securing the elections is his top priority, adding that the police will be one of the parties, which will be directly involved in the process, right from the beginning till the end.

         "The police and other security agencies will work in tandem to secure the entire process of the elections, and I have issued an order that all police officers must maintain a neutral stance in connection with the elections," he pointed out.

          In a bid to secure the elections, the National Police will be supported by the military or the TNI, and, in particular, the Army (TNI AD), which has declared that securing the elections is its top priority.

         TNI Chief General Moeldoko stated that the military and police have made a commitment to provide security during the elections.

         The military and police are on the front line, for safeguarding the elections, he added.

         In this regard, the government has reportedly allocated Rp100 billion for TNI. Meanwhile, TNI noted that ideally, it required around Rp300 billion for securing the elections.

          "According to the government plans, we will receive around Rp100 billion for security arrangements during the elections.  Ideally, we require Rp300 billion," TNI Chief Moeldoko recently remarked.

         According to Moeldoko, the budget was required to arm the soldiers with sufficient riot control equipment.

         Of the Rp100 billion allocated by the Indonesian government to the military for securing the upcoming general elections, around 60-70 percent will be given to the TNI AD.

         "We will utilize the funds allocated by the government in order to assist the police," Chief of Staff of the Army General Budiman recently noted.

         The Army's regional commanders should be capable of mapping potential threats at the sub-district, city, and district levels, he added.

         A number of intelligent personnel will be deployed to anticipate any disruption or disturbance. "Their task will not be to intimidate the people, but instead, to monitor the situation," he remarked.

        The Army will also deploy anti-riot soldiers at every regional level.  At the Military District Command (Kodim) level, it will deploy a squad of 20 soldiers. At the Military Resort Command (Korem) level, around 100 to 200 soldiers will be deployed. At the Military Regional Command (Kodam) level, there will be one battalion unit or one thousand soldiers. At the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) level, three battalion units will be on standby. 
     In addition to their physical presence, the authorities will also strengthen the information technology security to anticipate any hackers or cybercrime that may be launched against the official websites of those executing the elections such as the KPU.

         In 2004, the KPU website was hacked and the symbols of political parties were illegally changed by the hacker.

        Brigadier General Arief Sulistyanto, a director at the Police's Crime Investigations Department (Bareskrim), confirmed that Bareskrim, in cooperation with the KPU's Information Technology Team, has come up with a reliable security system.

        Bareskrim Chief Commissioner General Suhardi Alius has instructed the Cyber Crime Investigation Center (CCIC) to set up a special team to secure the IT infrastructure for the 2014 general elections, he claimed.

        The 10-member team led by Brigadier General Arief Sulistyanto will work in unison with the KPU's IT Team.

        The KPU has declared that in 2014, the total number of eligible domestic voters for the general elections is 186,612,255 people, comprising 93,439,610 men and 93,172,645 women.

        They will cast their votes at 545,778 polling stations in 81,034 villages in 6,980 sub-districts located in 497 districts and cities in the country's 33 provinces.

         The total number of eligible Indonesian voters living overseas is 2,010,280. They are based in 130 countries, which will have 873 polling stations.

         Fifteen political parties comprising 12 national-level political parties and three local parties were declared eligible for participating in the 2014 general elections by the KPU. 
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