'Direct election in 2004 at all costs'<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Pnom Penh<\/p>\n
The 2004 presidential and vice presidential election will have to
\ntake place regardless of the financial burden it places on the
\nstate budget, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has asserted.<\/p>\n
Speaking to members of the Indonesian community living in
\nCambodia during a function at the Indonesian embassy here,
\nMegawati said the election must go ahead as it would serve as a
\nlearning process for both the general public and the political
\nelite in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"The finance minister has started to raise questions over the
\nsignificant state funds that will be needed for the election. The
\nsecurity forces are also questioning the cost of maintaining
\nsecurity. But whatever the case, we must proceed with the
\nelection,\" Megawati said.<\/p>\n
The President was attending the Association of Southeast Asia
\nNations (ASEAN) summit here, and is to fly back to Jakarta late
\non Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Indonesia will elect members of the House of Representatives,
\nRegional Representatives Council and the president\/vice president
\nin 2004. The latter election is to be direct for the first time
\never.<\/p>\n
The House is debating whether the elections should take place
\nsimultaneously or separately as proposed by the government.<\/p>\n
The People's Consultative Assembly has stipulated that the
\npresidential\/vice presidential election, the bill for which is
\nbeing prepared by the government, should be conducted in two
\nrounds unless one of the contesting tickets wins a simple
\nmajority and collects in at least 16 provinces.<\/p>\n
Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, which won
\nthe most votes in 1999, initially rejected direct presidential
\nelections, citing the public's lack of preparedness for the new
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
The President said it would be a challenge to proceed with the
\nelections, for which 218 political parties have registered
\nthemselves. Only 48 parties contested the 1999 elections.<\/p>\n
\"I wonder how the people will choose from all of these
\nparties,\" Megawati remarked, adding that the number could be
\nreduced if the people so wanted.<\/p>\n
The presidential\/vice presidential election would be
\ncomplicated too because of the requirements that had been set.<\/p>\n
\"We have to be prepared for whatever will happen, whether
\nthere is to be a single round or two rounds,\" the President said.<\/p>\n
Megawati also expressed her concern about the way her critics
\ncontinued to attack her administration without offering solutions
\nor concrete answers.<\/p>\n
She particularly hit out at government critics for insisting
\nthat the economic and political crises plaguing the country would
\ncontinue. This belief, she said, would only discourage recovery
\nefforts.<\/p>\n
\"Even foreigners love our country and hope Indonesia will
\nemerge from the crises. Should those foreigners be asked to mend
\nthis nation? Of course not, it's our responsibility,\" Megawati
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/direct-election-in-2004-at-all-costs-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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