Poll schedule to be set at end of year<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR)
\nHarmoko yesterday shot down hopes for snap elections, saying that
\nan extraordinary session of the People's Consultative Assembly
\n(MPR) to set a poll date would not be held until the end of the
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Harmoko said time was needed to review the country's five
\npolitical laws, which include the electoral laws, before an
\nelection could be called.<\/p>\n
\"To set the schedule for a general election, an extraordinary
\nsession of the MPR is needed. This extraordinary session could be
\nheld at the end of 1998 or early in 1999,\" Harmoko said.<\/p>\n
\"Time would be needed to acquaint the public with the new
\nelectoral system and election participants based on the new
\nelection law,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Harmoko spoke to journalists following a one-hour meeting with
\nPresident B.J. Habibie at the House of Representatives building.<\/p>\n
Since Soeharto's resignation, opposition leaders have been
\ndemanding that the Assembly hold an extraordinary session and
\nthat polls be quickly held to elect a new president and vice
\npresident.<\/p>\n
There was clearly some discontent yesterday at the prospect of
\nhaving to wait until next year for elections.<\/p>\n
Leading opposition figure Amien Rais questioned the
\nannouncement and called on the Assembly to first clarify the
\nobjective of an extraordinary session.<\/p>\n
\"It would be too dangerous if an extraordinary session is
\nmeant merely to strengthen the status quo, set up by Pak Harto's
\ncronies,\" said the chairman of the 28-million-strong Muhammadiyah
\nMoslem organization.<\/p>\n
He asserted that the session should be used only to revoke the
\n1998 MPR decree stipulating that the next poll would be held in
\n2002.<\/p>\n
Amien said that during a meeting with Habibie over the
\nweekend, the President had agreed to hold elections in six to 12
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
Nurcholish Madjid also expressed some dissatisfaction, warning
\nthat a delay in setting the poll date would not boost
\ninternational confidence in the current government.<\/p>\n
\"I think the most waited for thing is the time schedule, when
\nprecisely the polls will be held,\" he said after a meeting with
\nInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) Asia-Pacific Director Hubert
\nNeiss.<\/p>\n
The meeting yesterday between House leaders and Habibie was
\nheld exactly one-week after Habibie was sworn in as President
\nreplacing Soeharto.<\/p>\n
It was the first meeting Habibie held with House leaders since
\nbeing sworn in.<\/p>\n
Habibie was accompanied by his four coordinating ministers and
\nMinister\/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung, while Harmoko was
\nflanked by his deputies Ismail Hasan Metareum of the United
\nDevelopment Party (PPP), Abdul Gafur of Golkar and Fatimah Achmad
\nof the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). Also present were
\nseveral faction leaders.<\/p>\n
Harmoko said the House had formed a team, the Producers of
\nNational Legislation (Prolegnas), to review the five political
\nlaws -- which cover mass organizations, the role of the House and
\nthe Assembly, political parties, regional administrations and
\nelections -- on which the current political system is based.<\/p>\n
Harmoko said the team would work closely with the government
\nto expedite the new laws so it could be ready before the MPR
\nextraordinary session.<\/p>\n
When reporters pressed him to disclose a more exact timeframe
\nfor elections, Harmoko replied that his meeting did not discuss a
\nspecific schedule, only means for \"the acceleration of the new
\npoll\".<\/p>\n
Harmoko also balked at suggestions that the MPR would accede
\nto widely voiced demands that it also seek Soeharto's
\naccountability.<\/p>\n
The House speaker maintained that the session would only focus
\non election issues.<\/p>\n
\"The MPR agenda is to revoke, change and draw up several
\ndecrees related to the election,\" Harmoko said.<\/p>\n
Officials initially indicated that Habibie himself would also
\naddress journalists along with Harmoko. However, the 80
\njournalists eagerly waiting near the main hall were disappointed
\nwhen the President was quickly chauffeured away.<\/p>\n
\"The plan was canceled merely for protocol reasons,\" an
\nofficial said. (swe\/imn\/prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/poll-schedule-to-be-set-at-end-of-year-1447893297",
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