•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with leaders of state institutions at the House of Representatives on Monday in an attempt to create peaceful and fair elections in 2014.

House speaker Marzuki Alie said the meeting addressed several problems that have emerged ahead of the presidential and legislative elections, including invalidity of voter data and misunderstandings among state agencies at the national and regional levels involved in the elections.

“We will follow them up in accordance with our own authorities and responsibilities,” he said.

Besides Marzuki, leaders of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), the Constitutional, Supreme and Judicial courts, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and Regional Representatives Council (DPD) also attended the meeting.

The event took place as a series of conflict-related elections have taken place over the last several months across the nation.

The General Elections Commissions (KPU) is responsible for the technicalities of the elections, while the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the police handle accusation of election fraud.

The Supreme Audit Agency is responsible for investigating the use of money set aside to conduct the elections.

While previous national elections in 2004 and 2009 were considered successes by many observers, complaints of fraud in several regions prompted concerns over their fairness.

Several members of the KPU have been jailed for accepting bribes from candidates.

Accusations of bias against the KPU, the Constitutional Court and the police have sparked protests, often ending up in deadly conflicts between groups of supporters for rival candidates.

The deadly clashes in the election for district head of Tolikara in Papua is a recent case in point that is showing the lurking danger of conflict.

As of Monday, at 11 people have died as supporters from two rival candidates continue their weeks-long street battle, with both candidates pointing to the bias of the local election committee.

So far, the police have not been able to prevent the conflict from persisting.

“We need to develop healthier democracy and rule of law,” Marzuki said. The speaker, a member of Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, added that violence, money politics and institutional weaknesses have marred elections at the national and regional levels.

He acknowledged that the worsening situation across the archipelago has damaged public trust in the political process.