The Change Mariner

Indonesia's Elections

CNN.com:

Voters will elect members for a range of government bodies, including a new 550-member national parliament, setting the stage for the country's first direct presidential elections in July.

Polling booths in the sprawling archipelago's eastern-most regions opened first in the second general election since the 1998 demise of Suharto, Indonesia's long-serving autocratic president.

In a complex and daunting logistical exercise, about 90 percent of Indonesia's 147 million eligible voters are expected to choose candidates for the nation's senate and the national and provincial legislatures as well as a new body called the regional representatives council.

It is a major change for Indonesians, who in the past have only been required to cast a vote for a single party, not individual candidates.With 24 parties contesting the polls, the ballot papers are huge and the process unwieldy.

Already logistical problems involving the distribution of around 660 million ballot papers to more than 595,000 polling stations has forced the government to allow voting to be delayed in some districts.

To add to the complexity for voters, only the parties winning at least 3 percent of the seats can field candidates in the presidential elections on July 5.
Run-off elections are scheduled for September, if there is no simple majority winner.

Posted by Bob King at April 4, 2004 08:31 PM | TrackBack
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