Megawati urges peaceful elections<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri called on the Indonesian
\ncommunity here on Sunday to hold the first direct presidential
\nelection in 2004 peacefully, to show the country's commitment to
\nnurturing democracy and reform.<\/p>\n
She said that, after having survived the first democratic
\nelections in 1999, Indonesia must be able to maintain peace in
\nthe 2004 elections.<\/p>\n
\"We have been preparing all matters necessary for the
\nelections and everything has been agreed upon by the country, so
\nwe all have to agree that the upcoming elections must proceed
\npeacefully as it did in 1999,\" Megawati said.<\/p>\n
She acknowledged that the next elections would be very
\ndifficult in regards the procedures, but these would ensure the
\nfulfillment of the people's aspiration to choose their own
\nrepresentatives and president freely.<\/p>\n
\"In the upcoming election, we will have to go through series
\nof steps from the elections of regional legislative council
\nmembers and members of the House of Representatives, as well as
\nthe president and the vice president,\" Megawati said.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully, in the 2004 elections we can once again prove that
\nwe are consistent in fulfilling our democratization process and
\nreform movement,\" she underlined.<\/p>\n
Megawati's statement came after the House passed the election
\nbill into law, after having settled several contentious issues in
\nthe draft law, including allowing state officials to campaign in
\nthe next polls.<\/p>\n
Megawati, who also chairs the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan), which won in the 1999 elections, would
\ncontest the 2004 direct presidential election against her
\nchallengers, like Amien Rais.<\/p>\n
More than 230 political parties have registered to contest in
\nthe 2004 elections, but politicians wanted less than 10 parties
\nto take part in the polls.<\/p>\n
However, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
\nMahendra said that so far, only eight political parties had re-
\nregistered with his office.<\/p>\n
He said there would be around 130 million voters spread out
\nthrough the 30 provinces and 370 regencies in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"That is a lot of people, and we have to register them
\nstarting mid-2003. But with the preparations that we have been
\nmaking, we hope to see a successful election to establish a new
\ngovernment until 2009,\" Megawati said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/megawati-urges-peaceful-elections-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}