PDI and PPP cold shoulder Golkar vote offer<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The prospect of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI) being given more seats in the House of Representatives
\nfaded yesterday as it and the United Development Party (PPP)
\nfailed to warm to the plan.<\/p>\n
The PPP said the proposal was unlawful, and the PDI continued
\nto reject the idea outright.<\/p>\n
PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum said that any such
\nconsensus "should be included in the electoral laws".<\/p>\n
"Otherwise, we must have the laws reviewed," he said at the
\nparty's headquarters in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Ismail said the PPP central board had written to Minister of
\nHome Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. to suggest a review. Yogie is the
\nchairman of the General Elections Committee.<\/p>\n
The proposal to increase PDI's number of seats came from
\nGolkar's chairman Harmoko after the PDI won only 10 House seats
\nin the May 29 general election. Golkar has been in power for more
\nthan 25 years.<\/p>\n
House regulations imply that a party must hold at least 13
\nseats because all three parties and the Armed Forces faction in
\nthe House should deliberate every decision it makes.<\/p>\n
Provisional results issued by the General Elections Institute
\nshow that Golkar has won 325 seats in the House, PPP 89 and PDI
\n10 after the counting of about 115 million ballots.<\/p>\n
Harmoko yesterday renewed his offer to give Golkar's excess
\nvotes to the PDI.<\/p>\n
"The Golkar central board has unanimously agreed to grant its
\nexcess votes to PDI," he told reporters after chairing a limited
\nmeeting on election strategy at the party's headquarters.<\/p>\n
But he insisted that votes should only be granted with the
\nPPP's and PDI's approval.<\/p>\n
Harmoko said the number of seats that Golkar would offer
\ndepended on a consensus to be reached by the three parties.<\/p>\n
"We have not formally met each other. How can I tell you the
\nresults of the consensus?" he said.<\/p>\n
"Golkar has not decided where the votes to be granted should
\nbe allocated from," he added.<\/p>\n
There had been speculation that Golkar would give three seats
\nto the PDI, from the provinces of North Sumatra, Jakarta and
\nSouth Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
In a related development, an elections committee delegation
\nvisited the PPP headquarters yesterday to discuss the
\nannouncement of final election results on June 23.<\/p>\n
Ismail said the delegation, led by the committee's secretary-
\ngeneral Suryatna Subrata, had also discussed Golkar's vote-
\ntrading proposal.<\/p>\n
"I told Suryatna the PPP's stance would be decided at a
\ncentral board meeting within these days (before June 23)," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Harmoko's proposal to give votes to the PDI has also met
\nstrong opposition from human rights activists and political
\nanalysts.<\/p>\n
"By transferring its votes to PDI, Golkar will be disobeying
\nits voters mandate," A.A. Baramuli of the National Commission on
\nHuman Rights said yesterday.<\/p>\n
"Golkar has violated voters' basic rights," he said.<\/p>\n
Political analysts Riswandha Imawan and Alexander Irwan said
\nthe government should not help the PDI increase its House seats
\nbecause it was "unethical".<\/p>\n
"There is no way out of this difficult situation. Just let it
\nbe," Alexander said.<\/p>\n
"People vote for their favorite party, not for their party's
\nrivals," he said.<\/p>\n
Some analysts have suggested that the next House modify its
\n14-year-old internal rules to allow decision making to proceed
\nwithout the PDI's presence.<\/p>\n
But Alexander said that changing the House rules would only
\nconfirm the government's political domination over the House.<\/p>\n
"Some unexpected elements surfaced in the recent election, but
\nthey did nothing but give greater legitimacy to the ruling
\nparty," he said.<\/p>\n
Alexander and Riswandha said the ousted PDI leader Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri was the other winner in the election, which saw the
\ngovernment-sanctioned PDI leadership under Soerjadi torn apart.
\n(imn\/amd)<\/p>",
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