Next president 'to be installed on Nov. 10'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): If all goes according to plan, Indonesia will
\nsee its fourth president taking the oath of office on Nov. 10,
\naccording to a senior Ministry of Home Affairs official.<\/p>\n
"The plan is that on Nov. 10, coinciding with National Heroes'
\nDay, we will see the new president and vice president installed,"
\nSecretary-General Faisal Tamin disclosed during a meeting with
\nuniversity students and rectors on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The government has set the tentative date of Oct. 28, which is
\nYouth Pledge Day, for the start of the general session of the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which will be formed after
\nthe general election scheduled for June, Faisal said.<\/p>\n
This is the first time the government has disclosed the
\ntentative dates for the general session of the MPR, which will
\nelect the country's president and vice president.<\/p>\n
Faisal was speaking at the launching of the University Network
\nfor a Free and Fair Election held at the University of Indonesia.
\nThe network, which involves 14 private and state universities so
\nfar, will be one of many watchdog organizations planning to
\nmonitor the June general election.<\/p>\n
MPR chairman Harmoko announced last week that the assembly and
\nthe government had agreed to call for a general election on June
\n7, and for the resulting MPR to convene on Aug. 28 for the
\nswearing-in of the members and the establishment of a working
\ncommittee to prepare for the general session.<\/p>\n
The question of when the new president will take over became
\nimportant after leading political opposition figures questioned
\nthe long time gap between the general election in June and the
\npresidential election, which was originally planned for December.<\/p>\n
They argued that this schedule would make the seating
\npresident a lame duck leader.<\/p>\n
Faisal said moving forward the presidential election date to
\nNovember appeared to be the maximum. The MPR working committee
\nmust be given time to complete its job, which will include
\ndrafting the Broad Outlines of State Policy.<\/p>\n
"They (committee members) have only one-and-a-half months.
\nThis is tough for such an important task," he said.<\/p>\n
Faisal disclosed that there was a consensus among the four
\nfactions represented in the House of Representatives that June 7,
\nwhich is a Monday, will be declared a public holiday.<\/p>\n
The House is currently debating three political bills which
\nwill be the foundations of Indonesia's new political system.<\/p>\n
Faisal said even as the House was still debating the bill, the
\ngovernment has begun preparations for the June election.<\/p>\n
The government will begin registering the political parties
\nintending to contest the elections in January or February, he
\nsaid, noting that by Saturday, some 108 political parties had
\nregistered their names with the ministry.<\/p>\n
Voter registration would begin in March or April, he said,
\nadding that the total eligible voters is expected to be about 125
\nmillion, or 5 percent higher than in 1997.<\/p>\n
The campaign period will probably last a month, and there are
\nnow debates on whether a one-week "cooling off" period as in past
\nelections is necessary before balloting day, he said. (edt\/emb)<\/p>",
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