Parties promise peaceful campaign period<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
All political parties contesting the elections pledged on Tuesday
\nto put aside their differences to promote a peaceful campaign
\nperiod from March 11 to April 1.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-
\ngeneral Soetjipto, Crescent Star Party chairman Yusril Ihza
\nMahendra and Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono were among the
\ntop politicians issuing the joint declaration.<\/p>\n
\"We agree on a spirit of peace, as no party wants bloodshed
\nduring the campaigns,\" Soetjipto told reporters after
\nthe declaration was read at the General Elections Commission
\n(KPU) on Jl. Imam Bonjol, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti, accompanied by KPU
\nmembers such as Chusnul Mar'iyah, Mulyana W. Kusumah and Daan
\nDimara, hosted the joint declaration.<\/p>\n
Representatives of 23 parties contesting the polls attended
\nthe gathering, excluding the Indonesian Democratic Vanguard
\nParty.<\/p>\n
Last October, supporters of PDI-P and Golkar clashed in Bali,
\nleaving two dead, after which leaders of the two parties met for
\nreconciliatory talks.<\/p>\n
Electoral campaigns have usually caused the public to be wary,
\nas they tended to turn violent. The security fear was also felt
\nin the stock market, weakening the Jakarta index and the rupiah
\nrate against the greenback.<\/p>\n
Noted poet Taufik Ismail, who attended Tuesday's gathering,
\nrecalled the country's first election in 1955 as the most
\npeaceful.<\/p>\n
Golkar's Agung said the campaigns would run peacefully, even
\nwithout such a declaration.<\/p>\n
\"No one here wants to win the election through inappropriate
\nmeans,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Election Supervisory Committee member Topo Santoso
\nsaid the responsibility of conducting a peaceful campaign period
\nwould rest not only with party leaders, but also party members.<\/p>\n
\"Party leaders will set a model. If they refrain from
\nviolence, they will send a message of peace to their supporters,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, a group of Muslim leaders, organizations
\nand politicians called on the people to exercise their right to
\nvote and to maintain peace during the elections, while urging
\npeople to vote for politicians with good track records.<\/p>\n
\"We all agree that the 2004 elections must be peaceful and
\nproduce qualified leaders,\" Hussein Umar of the Indonesian
\nCouncil of Islamic Propagation said at Istiqlal Mosque.<\/p>\n
Also present at the event were Islam Defenders Front chairman
\nMohammad Rizieq Shihab, Reform Star Party chairman
\nZainuddin MZ, Crescent Star Party deputy chairman Ahmad
\nSumargono, Indonesian Ulemas Council deputy chairman Amidhan and
\ndangdut singer Rhoma Irama.<\/p>\n
PDI-P legislator Arismunandar and Golkar legislator Tutty
\nAlawiyah were also present.<\/p>\n
Zainuddin, also a renowned Muslim cleric, said the forum would
\nbe maintained to discuss the nomination of a presidential
\ncandidate, and hoped Islamic political parties would first
\ndiscuss their political goals together.<\/p>\n
\"In the next step, we hope the parties will come up with one
\ndefinite presidential candidate,\" he said Zainuddin.<\/p>\n
Separately, KPU deputy secretary-general Sussongko Suhardjo
\nsaid that several ballot paper tender winners had quitted their
\ncontracted task to print 75 million papers for the
\nregental\/municipal legislative election.<\/p>\n
\"They have no capacity to complete the job by March 17,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He added that the KPU had appointed other companies to take
\nover the job, including Metro Pos, a winner of the tender to
\nprint voter registration forms.<\/p>",
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