On foreign observers<\/p>\n
A week after Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M.'s
\nsurprise announcement that foreign observers will be allowed to
\nmonitor all stages of the May 29 election, nothing but positive
\nreactions have been aired, both at home and abroad. Although
\nthe minister has yet to disclose who he will invite and what
\ntheir itinerary will be, and although the foreign observers will
\nbe barred from investigating cases or passing judgment on them,
\none can conclude that, indeed, this is still a timely decision
\nwhich deserves praise. However, will it help restore the public's
\nconfidence in the fairness of the coming general election?<\/p>\n
One has to admit that there is widespread concern among the
\npublic that the coming election will be marred by vote-rigging
\nand manipulation. The all-out actions by several government
\nofficials who prematurely and unadornedly have engaged in an open
\ncampaign for the ruling Golkar do not help allay those
\nsuspicions. The government's indifference toward the Independent
\nElection Monitoring Committee (KIPP) when it was established last
\nyear has also been interpreted by many as contempt for any
\npossible intruder.<\/p>\n
Several other things have also helped nurture the public's
\nbelief that the government, somehow, will again adopt a partisan
\nstance in the election. The toppling of Megawati Soekarnoputri
\nfrom the chairmanship of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
\nlast year, allegedly to deter any attempt to nominate her as a
\npresidential candidate, and the strict election campaign rules
\nissued last month which practically bar the two smaller parties,
\nPPP and PDI, from conducting a proper campaign, are seen as part
\nof the strategy to assure another landslide victory for Golkar.<\/p>\n
Now, allowing foreign observers to watch the May election will
\nsurely help to disperse those ill rumors and suspicions. But much
\nmore is needed before the mistrust can be eliminated. Allowing
\nKIPP, or any other domestic poll watchdogs, to monitor the
\nelection would be another good step. After all, if foreign
\nobservers are welcome, why not let local observers watch the
\npolling as well? Another commendable step would be to allow
\nwitnesses and observers to watch the ballot boxes when they are
\nrecounted and dispatched to the sub-district and district
\nelection committees, a stage which is said to be the most prone
\nto manipulation.<\/p>\n
But will this allay fears that the election will not be
\nhonest, clean and fair? Given the unprecedented repeated warnings
\nfrom President Soeharto in the last several weeks during which he
\nthreatened to punish any election boycotters, one can surmise
\nthat the thing that most worries the government is a campaign to
\nboycott the election. It is obvious that the government is aware
\nthat a growing number of people are becoming disillusioned to the
\nextent that they may boycott the election.<\/p>\n
Viewed in this context, one can deduce that the decision to
\nallow foreign observers to watch the polls is part of an attempt
\nto lure back voters to the election booths by guaranteeing an
\nhonest and clean election. How successful this endeavor will be
\nwill depend largely on how far the government is willing to go to
\nguarantee a fair election.<\/p>\n
As an afterthought, barring any unforeseeable developments, it
\nwould be safe, at present, to predict that certain parties'
\ncampaign to boycott the election will not be successful. With
\nPresident Soeharto's repeated warnings, and such influential
\nleaders like Abdurrahman Wahid and Amien Rais calling not to
\nboycott the election, plus Megawati's call to her grassroots
\nsupporters to participate in all the election processes -- all of
\nwhich will be eventually \"reinforced\" by the authorities'
\n\"clobbering\" measures -- it is unlikely that the May election's
\nturnout will be less than previous election turnouts. But no one
\ncan guarantee that the number of protest votes, made by casting
\ninvalid ballots, will not rise.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-foreign-observers-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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