ONE-ROUND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO COST RP4 TRILLION

Jakarta, May 28 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian presidential election on July 8 will cost around Rp4 trillion if it finishes in one round, General Elections Commission chief Hafiz Ashary said here on Thursday.

"The cost will increase if the election needs to be done in two rounds. We will try not to ask for additional funds except if it goes in a second round," he said at a press conference.

He said the budget for the legislative and presidential elections was set at around Rp13.5 trillion in 2009 but Rp2.8 trillion of it had been used to pay the cost of election process budgeted in 2008.

"The budget for the election process in 2008 totaling Rp6.6 trillion was not used up and Rp2.8 trillion of it had been returned to the state coffers. However the use of the budget was delayed until the beginning of 2009 to cut the 2009 budget by Rp2.8 trillion," he said.

He said if the presidential election later went in two rounds KPU would ask for an additional fund of Rp2.8 trillion. "According to the government the fund will be put in the revised budget," he said.

Ashary said KPU had been able to economize up to Rp1 trillion of the 2009 budget.

He said the most fund would go to paying election workers totaling around Rp10.3 trillion as no regional budget had been made available for paying them.

Regarding the presidential election later Ashary said the cost of logistics would be around Rp660 billion consisting of Rp121.7 billion for ballot papers, Rp497.9 billion for distribution of ballots, Rp3.3 billion for stamps and Rp37.1 billion for ink procurement.

He denied that the budget for information technology reached Rp170 billion saying that the funds used for IT at central and regional KPU offices totalled only Rp33.58 billion.

"I do not know if anyone has said it reached Rp170 billion or even Rp210 billion. I do not know the source of the information because the budget for it is only Rp33.58 billion," he said.

He said the IT funds were also used for procuring scanners in 471 cities/districts and 33 provinces as well as software application units.

"No procurement projects in KPU that have been done without tenders," he said.