MPR session may be delayed: Habibie<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): With the General Elections Commission (KPU)
\ndeciding to delay announcing final poll results, President B.J.
\nHabibie said on Friday subsequent stages of the June 7 general
\nelection, including the General Session of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR), would likely be delayed by a month.<\/p>\n
\"Because the swearing in of new members of the House of
\nRepresentatives\/People's Consultative Assembly will likely be
\ndelayed from its original date of Aug. 29 to the end of September
\nor the beginning of October, the MPR General Session will
\nsubsequently be delayed,\" the President said as quoted by Deputy
\nHouse Speaker Abdul Gafur.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the press after meeting with Habibie at Merdeka
\nPalace, Gafur said the predicted delay of the General Session was
\nbased on the KPU's decision to postpone the announcement of poll
\nresults from July 7 to July 21.<\/p>\n
He said the President, who is the ruling Golkar Party's
\npresidential nominee, foresaw the presidential election being
\nheld in December.<\/p>\n
Considering the time needed for the leaders of the 48 parties
\nwhich contested the elections and the chairmen of all 27
\nprovincial elections committees to come to Jakarta, the National
\nElections Committee (PPI) announced on Friday the national vote
\ncount would begin next Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"We have to make sure that all party leaders and the chairmen
\nof all 27 provincial elections committees will be here to attend
\nthe PPI plenary meeting and witness the start of the national
\nvote count next Tuesday,\" PPI chairman Jacob Tobing announced.<\/p>\n
With the Wednesday deadline to announce and ratify the poll
\nresults looming, the KPU agreed on Thursday to allow the PPI to
\nbegin the national vote count after 10 days of uncertainty.<\/p>\n
A KPU regulation stipulates that the national vote count
\nshould have begun on June 21.<\/p>\n
While it remained unconfirmed that all official poll results
\nalready received by the committee had been cleared of fraud
\ncharges, Tobing said the PPI had received the recapitulated poll
\nresults from 16 provinces.<\/p>\n
The provinces which have submitted their results are Aceh,
\nNorth Sumatra, West Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu, Lampung, West Java,
\nYogyakarta, Central Java, East Java, Bali, East Timor, East
\nKalimantan, South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi and Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
Tobing said provincial elections committees still had the
\nopportunity to rehold polls before the Monday deadline.<\/p>\n
He said polls would be reheld in Pasaman regency in West
\nSumatra, Bitung mayoralty in North Sulawesi, Bolaang Mongondouw
\nin North Sulawesi and Alor in East Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
TNI's neutrality<\/p>\n
Also on Friday, Minister of Defense and Security\/Indonesian
\nMilitary (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto said the military would
\nmaintain its distance from all political parties which contested
\nthe June 7 elections, but would play an active role in the
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
\"TNI will maintain its neutrality, but at the same time will
\nalso exercise its voting rights in the General Session of the
\nMPR, including the presidential election,\" he said during a
\nhearing with House Commission I for security and defense, law,
\npolitics and information.<\/p>\n
He said the military and the National Police would be
\nproactive in seeking solutions to a possible deadlock in the
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
Several political observers and leading political parties,
\nincluding Golkar Party, have called on the military not to vote
\nin the presidential election to ensure its political neutrality.<\/p>\n
Separately, eight Muslim-based political parties said they
\nwould not endorse the final poll results unless the police
\nimmediately opened an investigation into electoral law violations
\nallegedly committed by Tobing.<\/p>\n
Representatives of the United Development Party (PPP), the
\nJustice Party (PK), the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Nahdlatul
\nUmmat Party (PNU), the Islamic Community Party (PUI), the
\nIndonesian United Islam Party 1905 (PSII-1905), the Indonesian
\nMasyumi Islamic Political Party (PPIM) and the Muslim Community
\nAwakening Party (PKU) lodged a complaint against Tobing at
\nNational Police Headquarters.<\/p>\n
\"We'll wait until July 8 and if the police do not follow up on
\nour report, none of us will sign the final poll results,\" PPIM
\nchairman Abdullah Hehamahua said after meeting with the chief of
\nthe National Police's intelligence directorate, Brig. Gen. Subono
\nAdi.<\/p>\n
The party representatives believe Tobing bypassed regulations
\ngoverning vote-sharing agreements among political parties when he
\napproved a vote-sharing deal made by 10 parties.<\/p>\n
Abdullah said the vote-sharing agreement was not signed by
\nauthorized party officials and it was submitted after the May 31
\ndeadline for such agreements.<\/p>\n
As of 8:30 p.m. on Friday, based on the KPU's provisional vote
\ncount, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) remained in the lead with 23.4 million votes. In
\nsecond position was Golkar Party with 12.46 million votes,
\nfollowed by the National Awakening Party (PKB) with 11.2 million
\nvotes.(rms\/prb\/emf\/imn\/amd)<\/p>",
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