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PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0699 1100051
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200051Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2158
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0952
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3627
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3479
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 2104
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000699 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS, INR/EAP 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS AID 
USAID FOR ANE/EAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ID
SUBJECT: ACEH: SLOW VOTE COUNTING FEEDS COMPLAINTS AND INSTABILITY 
 
Reftel: A) JAKARTA 0654 B) JAKARTA 0657 
 
¶1.  Summary. While election results in Aceh are being tabulated as 
quickly as in other provinces, the stakes and tension level is much 
higher given the expected victory of the Aceh Party (PA) at the 
provincial parliament (DPRA) level and in a majority of district 
councils (DPRK). The past week has seen a large mysterious fire, 
district-level demands for a revote, and several protests outside 
Election Monitoring Bodies (PANWASLU).  Still, Aceh remains peaceful 
10 days after elections and the election appears to have been free 
and fair.  End Summary. 
Slow Counting 
------------- 
¶2.  While the April 9 Legislative Elections in Aceh concluded 
peacefully (reftels A and B), sluggish tallying of results have 
created uncertainty and room for noisy complaints by parties unhappy 
with their performance. As of the morning of April 17 more than 
264,000 DPR-RI and 330,000 DPRA ballots had been counted in Aceh, 
from an election-day estimate of over 2 million votes cast. While 
the rate of progress is not out of line with national rates, (less 
than 11 million votes, out of perhaps 120 million total votes, have 
been counted nationwide according to National Election Commission 
(KPU) website data from April 17) the number of complaints about 
electoral violations is increasing rapidly. Although it is not yet 
possible to properly forecast results, that fact has not stopped 
parties, particularly the local Aceh Party (PA), from making 
outrageous claims about its electoral success. Despite mounting 
evidence to the contrary, the Aceh Party continues to assert that it 
won between 75% and 90% of the vote. In the absence of solid data, 
PA's claims are being accepted as correct by some observers and at 
the grass roots level. 
¶3. Early estimates based on the ongoing tabulation of the votes cast 
show the Aceh Party in the lead for seats in the 69-member DPRA with 
38% of the votes for the DPRA ballot. The Democratic Party (PD) is 
second with 13.74% of the vote, the Justice and Welfare Party (PKS) 
third with 6.37% of the vote and the Golkar Party fourth with 5.72%. 
The ballot for the national parliament (in which only national 
parties participated) shows PD in the lead with 41.13% and PKS 
second with 10.56%, followed by the National Mandate Party (PAN) at 
8.67%, and Golkar with 7.18%. 
Post Election Troubles 
---------------------- 
¶5.  The most serious incident of post-election violence was an April 
13 fire which destroyed 22 wooden shop houses in the Simpang Balik 
area of Bener Meriah District. According to media reports, Aceh 
Governor Irwandi Yusuf called this a case of post-election 
intimidation during an April 14 meeting with Indonesian Vice 
President Jusuf Kalla. Media reports state that while police have 
apprehended several suspects, they are not revealing their 
identities. 
¶6.  In addition to the suspected arson attack in Bener Meriah, a 
PANWASLU office in neighboring Central Aceh district was ransacked 
by unknown assailants on the afternoon of April 12. Also, 21 local 
and national parties are demanding a revote in Pidie District 
because of pre-election intimidation. Different groupings of local 
and national parties in Gayo Luwes, Southwest Aceh, South Aceh, and 
Singkil Districts, and the cities of Lhokseumawe, Langsa, and 
Subussalam have also called for a revote. In most cases the parties 
cite PA intimidation against voters and party poll watchers as the 
reason to demand a revote, though in some cases parties argue that 
deficiencies in voter rolls and problems with ballots were serious 
enough to throw the election's validity into question. 
¶7.  PA is not party to any of these complaints and KPA Spokesperson 
Ibrahim KBS (PA is closely associated with ex-GAM successor 
organization KPA and many of its candidates are KPA members) has 
asked publicly for all parties to respect the results of the April 9 
vote. 
 
HUME