PPP has evidence of poll rigging attempts<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party (PPP) stood by its
\nrecent allegation of poll rigging attempts, but said it had faith
\nin the government's handling of the problem.<\/p>\n
\"We have evidence to back up our allegation,\" said PPP
\nSecretary-General Tosari Widjaya in a press conference here
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
\"(Despite the reported poll rigging attempt), we still believe
\nin the government and the organizers of the election at both the
\nnational and local level,\" said chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum at
\nthe same press briefing.<\/p>\n
\"It's now up to the Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M.
\n(as to what to do),\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ismail alleged Wednesday that a subdistrict head in Sumatra
\nhad already decided the May 29 election results for his region.<\/p>\n
Ismail quoted an \"authentic document\" showing that the
\nofficial had allotted Golkar 86.29 percent of the subdistrict's
\nvotes, the PPP 7 percent and the Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI) 6.71 percent.<\/p>\n
Though Ismail did not say the subdistrict was in Bengkulu, it
\nlater became apparent that he was referring to Mulyadi Wadjis,
\nthe Gading Cempaka subdistrict head in Bengkulu. Mulyadi, in his
\ncapacity as a local Golkar official, was responsible for the
\n\"election results\".<\/p>\n
Bengkulu Governor Adjis Achmad, who is also chairman of the
\nGeneral Election Committee's provincial office, and Nawawi
\nEffendi, chairman of the Election Supervision Committee's local
\noffice, denied the allegation. They said what Ismail cited as
\nproof was a fake document.<\/p>\n
Dailami, an official at the General Elections Institute, also
\nresponded to the allegation. He said the subdistrict head was
\nonly making projections of Golkar's votes in the region.<\/p>\n
Armed Forces Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan
\nHamid criticized the PPP for making the matter public rather than
\nreporting the alleged manipulation to the chairman of the General
\nElections Institute, who is also the Minister of Home Affairs
\nMoch. Yogie S.M.<\/p>\n
Ismail said he had reported the matter to Yogie.<\/p>\n
Questions surrounding the document grew after several
\nofficials said it was \"a projection sheet\" of Golkar achievement
\nwhich should not have been leaked in the first place. They said
\nthe word \"projection\" or \"estimation\" had been erased from the
\ndocument by whoever leaked it.<\/p>\n
Tosari said the document could not have been a projection, as
\nit also included the number of \"spoiled votes\". The report also
\ndid not have a space in which the word \"estimation\" could have
\nbeen written.<\/p>\n
The PPP secretary-general lashed out at the subdistrict head
\nfor \"improper activities\".<\/p>\n
\"(The document) was an election result that could only be
\nreleased after election day. Why did he make up such a report
\nwhen campaigning is not over yet?\" he said.<\/p>\n
Minister<\/p>\n
Tosari said the PPP central board had officially reported the
\nalleged poll rigging attempt earlier last week to the government.<\/p>\n
\"We sent the letter so that (Yogie) could take action against
\nthe subdistrict head and prevent similar incidents from taking
\nplace in other regions.<\/p>\n
\"But why did other officials issue a response to our letter?\"
\nTosari said.<\/p>\n
He also questioned the relevance of a Golkar leader's
\nstatement to the PPP allegation.<\/p>\n
Deputy chairman of Golkar Agung Laksono said last week the
\nallegation was baseless and every political group had a right to
\nestimate their number of votes.<\/p>\n
Ismail said Saturday that poll rigging is a chronic plague in
\nIndonesia's general election.<\/p>\n
\"We have evidence that in 1992, a regency in Lampung province
\ncompleted its ballot counting at 11 a.m., while the vote-taking
\nwas still obviously taking place,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Political observer Alexander Irwan had recently predicted that
\nsystematic poll rigging by bureaucrats and the military to help
\nGolkar will remain widespread in the coming election.<\/p>\n
Irwan said the worst violations mostly take place in polling
\nstations where witnesses from PPP and Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI), are often blocked from observing the ballot counting.<\/p>\n
\"Witnesses are crucial in the ballot counting and in the past
\nthey often became a prime target of intimidation,\" he said.
\n(imn\/swe)<\/p>",
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