Gen. Moetojib wants campaigns changed<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Mass rallies will have to be abandoned in future
\nelection campaigns because they turn violent too easily, State
\nIntelligence Chief Lt. Gen. Moetojib said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Moetojib said mass rallies were difficult to control and an
\neasy target for interest groups wanting to achieve their
\npolitical agendas by violent means.<\/p>\n
\"We think the election campaign should be redesigned in the
\nfuture,\" he told journalists after meeting with President
\nSoeharto at Merdeka Palace.<\/p>\n
Moetojib said numerous cases of mob violence broke out during
\nthe recent campaign when organizers failed to control the masses.<\/p>\n
\"We should not repeat the same mistake in the future,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
According to independent observers the April 27 - May 23
\nelection campaign was the most violent in Indonesia's election
\nhistory.<\/p>\n
The most tragic incident occurred on the last day of
\ncampaigning in the South Kalimantan capital of Banjarmasin when
\n123 people trapped in a plaza were burned to death.<\/p>\n
Destroyed or damaged in the riots were hundreds of shops,
\nhouses, vehicles, churches, schools, buildings, a Buddhist temple
\nand a rest home.<\/p>\n
Moetojib said interest groups and certain non-governmental
\norganizations trying to destabilize the government were behind
\nthe unrest.<\/p>\n
Moetojib said \"problematic NGOs\" had obviously failed to
\npersuade people to boycott the May 29 election because more than
\n90 percent voted.<\/p>\n
He said they wanted to change the current political system by
\nexaggerating the government's shortcomings.<\/p>\n
\"Their number is small but they have big mouths,\" Moetojib
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Last month the Armed Forces Sociopolitical Affairs Chief Lt.
\nGen. Syarwan Hamid accused the Democratic People's Party (PRD) of
\norchestrating the campaign violence.<\/p>\n
Nine PRD leaders have been jailed on subversion charges.<\/p>\n
Antigovernment elements continued circulating leaflets as part
\nof their effort to discredit the government, Moetojib said.<\/p>\n
The intelligence chief said the recent unrest stemmed from
\ndissatisfaction with the current system, tension between
\ndifferent groups in society, and the use of violence by interest
\ngroups to achieve their goals.<\/p>\n
One way to avoid more violence, Moetojib said, would be for
\nevery citizen to refrain from resorting to violence and to refuse
\nto use violence to solve problems.<\/p>\n
\"If people already know that riots have been engineered by
\ninterest groups or individuals, then they should refuse to get
\ninvolved in irresponsible acts,\" he said. (06)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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