Independent poll watchdog criticized for passivity<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Scholars and political observers have criticized
\nthe passivity of the newly-established general election watchdog
\nand urged it to come out with more concrete programs.<\/p>\n
Speakers at a seminar yesterday said that the Independent
\nElection Monitoring Committee should operate in rural areas where
\nelectoral supervision is poor. The seminar was sponsored by an
\norganization called the Institute of Information Flow Studies.<\/p>\n
Laksamana Sukardi, an activist of the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty, said that: \"rural areas deserve greater attention from the
\ncommittee because supervisors from outside the government-backed
\nparty, Golkar, are powerless when face to face with the
\nauthorities,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The practices of vote-rigging, coercion and manipulations
\nhave been commonplace in many out-of-the-way places,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to Laksamana the poor educational background of the
\nwitnesses is one of the main reasons for their shortcomings.
\nSupervision comprises a large variety of activities from
\nballot casting to transporting the ballot boxes from the voting
\nbooths to the local administration offices.<\/p>\n
So far the committee has been accused of causing troubles
\nbecause the authorities believe that it has a cynical perception
\nof the management of general elections. Laksamana said the
\ncommittee should hold a meeting of minds with the government on
\nthe matter.<\/p>\n
While the head of the Constitutional Law Department of the
\nUniversity of Indonesia, Yusril Ihza, told the seminar that there
\nshould not be any doubt about the constitutionality of the
\nCommittee.<\/p>\n
\"The National Constitution guarantees freedom of association.\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Other participants in the seminar asked how the committee
\nwould oversee the practice of polling in the areas as large as
\nIndonesia with only 50 people.<\/p>\n
Mulyana W. Kusumah, vice chairman of the Committee, said that
\nits operation does not reach the village level but has urged
\nlocal non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to set up their own
\nwatchdog organizations for the same purpose.<\/p>\n
The committee chairman, Goenawan Mohamad, added that local
\nNGOs have established two election watchdogs in Yogyakarta and
\none in Semarang.<\/p>\n
The second watchdog was set up in Yogyakarta by 30 NGOs on
\nWednesday, one week after the national election watchdog
\ncommittee was established there. The new organization, called the
\nIndependent Election Supervision Committee, according to its
\nworking coordinator Satya Widodo, is not a rival to the national
\ncommittee but will work together with it.<\/p>\n
Goenawan Mohamad, the chairman of the presidium of the
\nIndependent Election Monitoring Committee, said yesterday the
\ncommittee aims to make the next general election more credible,
\npeaceful and orderly.<\/p>\n
\"The image of an impartial and honest referee in all fields,
\nsuch as sport, business and politics, has evaporated in this
\ncountry,\" Goenawan, the editor of the now-defunct Tempo news
\nmagazine, added.<\/p>\n
Goenawan said in Yogyakarta Wednesday evening that the
\nCommittee was set up to help the government hold a clean general
\nelection.<\/p>\n
\"So, there is no authority whatsoever which has the right to
\nban an organization which was founded by the people.<\/p>\n
\"The government cannot ban it. If it intends to do so it
\nshould be done through a judicial process because the birth of an
\norganization is decided by the populace not by the authorities,
\nespecially provincial governors,\" he told newsmen.<\/p>\n
The governors of West and East Java have stated that they
\nwould oppose the establishment of any watchdog committee in their
\nrespective provinces.<\/p>\n
In Semarang, a professor of constitutional law at the
\nDiponegoro State University said that the establishment of the
\nwatchdog committee is not against the law as long as it does not
\nintervene in the electoral process.<\/p>\n
\"Every citizen has the right to supervise how the general
\nelection is held,\" Soehardjo said. (16\/Har\/02)<\/p>",
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