---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ++ Pemilu Online: http://www.indo-news.com/pemilu/ ++ ---------------------------------------------------------- The Straits Times, JUN 19 1999 Polls free and fair, says student watchdog JAKARTA -- A students' election watchdog has said its network of 105,000 observers has found Indonesia's June 7 elections to be free and fair despite instances of irregularities in several areas. The University Network for Free and Fair Election (Unfrel) said in a statement issued late on Thursday that its observers reported that 97 per cent of voters felt they were allowed to cast their ballots freely without intimidation. It added that 97 per cent of ballot boxes were secure and 86 per cent of the provisional polls results which had been tallied were accurate. The group deployed 105,000 observers in 22 provinces to monitor the first polls since the fall of President Suharto last year. However, the group recorded an "insignificant" number of cases of intimidation and procedural violations which, it said, had been reported to the election supervisory committee. "The findings allow us to conclude that in general the polling and counting processes during the voting day have been relatively smooth," Unfrel said in the statement. It said vote-buying -- such as voters being offerred money or food before they went to the polls -- was recorded in provinces such as Sulawesi, Riau, West Java and remote Irian Jaya. The group suggested the elections commission nullify poll results in North Aceh, East Aceh and Pidie. These three districts in Aceh province have been worst affected by a decade-long military operation against separatists. "Voters were afraid to attend polling places because of threats and intimidation, not only from separatist-movement activists, but also from government officials," it said in a press conference on Thursday. Unfrel said voting in North Aceh was only held in eight out of 4,512 polling stations, with only 2.2 per cent of eligible voters participating. It urged the commission not to rerun the polls or agree to extend the voting period in the three districts. Aceh is home to the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) movement which has been fighting for an Islamic state since the mid-70s. Separatists and their sympathisers in Aceh had called for a boycott of the polls. They had demanded, instead, a referendum on the province's future. The military has accused separatists of terrorising people and threatening voters and election officials. --AFP,The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 22 Jun 1999 jam 11:57:38 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
