Soebandrio not allowed to vote in 1997 election<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government yesterday slammed the door on the
\npossibility of whether three recently released political
\nprisoners would be allowed to vote in next year's general
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security
\nSoesilo Soedarman told journalists that Soebandrio, Omar Dhani
\nand Soetarto had not met the requirements pertaining to the
\nrestoration of voting rights for former political prisoners.<\/p>\n
\"Their right to vote cannot yet be considered because they
\nhave to have been released at least one year prior to voting
\nregistration in order to be evaluated for reinstatement,\" said
\nSoesilo, referring to Article 2 of Presidential Decree No.
\n63\/1985.<\/p>\n
Based on the presidential decree, former political prisoners
\nmust pass an evaluation before they are eligible to regain the
\nvoting rights which they lost while in prison.<\/p>\n
The three men were imprisoned for nearly three decades for
\ntheir involvement in the 1965 abortive communist coup before
\nbeing pardoned by President Soeharto in August of last year.<\/p>\n
Soebandrio was foreign minister at the time of the coup while
\nOmar Dhani was Air Force commander and R.S. Soetarto was deputy
\nchief of intelligence.<\/p>\n
In consideration of their ages and Indonesia's 50th
\nanniversary of independence, the three were pardoned and released
\nin August. Announcing this move, the government identified them
\nas sympathizers of the Indonesian Communist Party and not
\nmembers.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces has expressed caution towards their release.<\/p>\n
Soesilo's statement effectively ended public speculation on
\nwhether the pardon also meant the three's voting rights would be
\nrestored.<\/p>\n
Soesilo was speaking yesterday at the end of a monthly
\nministerial meeting on politics and security.<\/p>\n
Also attending yesterday's meeting were Minister of Home
\nAffairs Yogie S. Memed, Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman, Armed
\nForces Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung, Chief of the State
\nIntelligence Board Lt. Gen. Moetojib and Minister of Religious
\nAffairs Tarmizi Taher.<\/p>\n
After chairing the meeting, Soesilo announced that 1,178,526
\nformer political prisoners had been evaluated for their
\neligibility to vote, of which 1,157,820 were deemed acceptable.<\/p>\n
Among the criteria that determine their eligibility is whether
\nthey have demonstrated loyalty to the state, the 1945
\nConstitution and Pancasila ideology. They must also demonstrate
\nthat they are no longer patrons of communism, Marxism or
\nLeninism.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Home Affair's Director General for Social and
\nPolitical Affairs, Soetoyo NK, said yesterday that the number of
\nformer political prisoners barred from voting has been declining.<\/p>\n
He said the number has dropped from 41,000 in the 1987
\nelection and 35,000 in the 1992 election to 20,706 in 1997.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the establishment of independent poll
\nwatchdogs, Soesilo firmly said that while every citizen has the
\nright to monitor the elections, it would be better if such
\nactivities were not institutionalized.<\/p>\n
\"The government holds the position that election monitoring
\ncommittees are not needed,\" he stated.<\/p>\n
Several independent poll watchdogs have been formed in the
\nlast month. The most prominent is the Independent Election
\nMonitoring Committee (KIPP) set up by the former editor of the
\ndefunct Tempo magazine, Goenawan Mohamad, and other leading
\nrights activists, lawyers and academics.<\/p>\n
Soesilo refused to elaborate on the fate of these independent
\npoll groups or whether they should be disbanded. He also refused
\nto comment when asked if sanctions would be imposed on these
\ngroups if they persist in their intentions.<\/p>\n
He said that the government had already established an
\nofficial Election Supervision Committee (Panwaslak) and that
\nshould individual voters find inconsistencies in the election
\nprocess, they should report this to that committee. (mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soebandrio-not-allowed-to-vote-in-1997-election-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}