Nur Raihan, Banda Aceh – As many as 13,996 TNI (Indonesian armed forces) members and police officers will be involved in securing election stations during the 2004 general elections in Aceh. The type of security which will be employed at the polling stations will be different from other regions in Indonesia.

This issue was raised by Aceh police chief Bahrumsyah Kasman with journalists at the Aceh police headquarters on Jl. Cut Mutia on Wednesday December 31. The difference in the type of security said Kasman, was because the security situation in Aceh is also different from other parts of the country. It was reiterated that during the 2004 elections Aceh will remain under a state of emergency.

“For areas which are secure or refereed to as white, security at three poling stations will be maintained by two security personnel and six Linmas. 3,197 TNI members and as many a 10,799 police officers will be deployed”, he explained. Of this total, each of the respective units will prepare a reserve which will be made up of 15,000 TNI personnel and 4,000 police officers.

For trouble spots meanwhile which are included in the category of gray, three poling stations will be guarded by three security personal and six Linmas. This means that each poling station will be guarded by one security officer. Meanwhile in trouble spots which are categorised as black, the security at poling stations will be the same as those areas categorised as gray.

According to Kasman, at this time the total number of poling states is yet to be finalised. Dispute this, is estimated that between the eight electoral zones there are total of 8,255 poling stations. Kasman admitted that the National Election Committee had yet to determine the total number and location of these poling stations. Meanwhile the total number of eligible voters has been estimated at 2,476,533 people. (nrl)

[Translated by James Balowski.]