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Indonesia, due to hold parliamentary election on Wednesday, has deployed hundreds thousands of police and tens thousands of troops to guard against possible public disorder in the country's upcoming elections.
The country had also installed special procedures to assure security during the elections, with police taking the leading role.
A senior Indonesian police officer said that some 18,000 police would be deployed to assure the security in about 40,000 ballot stations in capital city and outskirts areas (Jabodetabek).
"Firearms were not necessary to secure the situation in Jakarta and outskirts areas. Police manned in ballot stations would use baton. They already have martial art skills," Jakarta Police Chief Inspector General Dwi Priyatno said on the sidelines of election security preparation drill held here on Monday.
Dwi added firearm usage would only be allowed in areas considered prone to security incidents, or in situation that demands police to take excessive measures, such as unrests or anarchy.
"We have prepared firearms and other necessities required to secure the election commensurate with the level of security disturbances," Dwi added.
Police's tasks include securing the ballot stations, distribution of ballot papers, vote counting in ballot stations and ushering the voted ballots to the regional general elections commission (KPU) offices.
Overall, Indonesia allocated some 250,000 police personnel to secure the elections. Indonesia has allocated some 1.6 trillion rupiah (about 141 million U.S. dollars) to finance the police's efforts to secure the election.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Army's Chief of Staff General Budiman said that troops would also be deployed to secure the elections, adding that they would only be assigned to help police in carrying out their tasks.
"We would place our troops at least 50 meters away from ballot stations, a distance that ideal to anticipate possible disturbances or conflict in the vicinity.The ballot stations would be secured by police," Budiman said in his office here.
Budiman added that the army has allocated more than 31,000 troops to help police in securing the elections.
He said his headquarters had also anticipated areas considered prone to insecurity, among others in South Sulawesi and Aceh provinces. Unrests and frequent armed violence related to elections often reported in those two provinces.
The KPU has listed 185 million voters across the country, 12 national parties and 3 local parties in Aceh to take part in the elections.
The upcoming parliamentary election would elect new legislators in regional parliaments and 560 ones in central parliament.
The presidential election was scheduled for July 9. The winner will replacePresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has served maximum two 5-year periods since 2004.
