Confusion reigns as Indonesian elections approach

[dArKeR]

AP , JAKARTA
Sunday, Apr 04, 2004,Page 5

The justice minister has threatened to arrest election officials, thousands of polling stations are without ballots and parts of war-torn Aceh are too dangerous to hold elections.

But none of that will stop Indonesia from holding parliamentary elections tomorrow for the second time since the fall of ex-dictator Suharto in 1998 -- though election officials acknowledge voting will be delayed for up to five days in the remote regions of Papua and West Irian Jaya.

"Obviously are disappointing but that is not a fundamental flaw in the process," said Glyn Ford, chief observer for the European Election Observation Mission which includes 230 monitors.

"We have to put this in context," he said. "This is probably the biggest and most complex election in the world and takes place in a country that spans three time zones and includes some polling stations that are four or five days walk from the nearest road."

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