Students support poll as lesser evil<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): Student leaders agreed on Sunday after a three-
\nday meeting to support the upcoming general election, which they
\nhave deemed unfair for being based on defective political laws,
\nas they said to call off the election would lead to more trouble.<\/p>\n
A total of 163 student leaders from 63 colleges and
\nuniversities across the country conceded their stance may appear
\nambiguous, but said it was the best compromise given the wide
\ndifferences of opinion they brought to the meeting at the Bandung
\nInstitute of Technology.<\/p>\n
Delegates from outside of Java, for instance, saw the issues
\nof regional autonomy and the curbing of military operations as
\nmore urgent than the elections. They also believed the most
\npressing problem was preventing disintegration.<\/p>\n
As for the elections, Shoni Hamdani, of the Yogyakarta
\nTeachers Training Institute, said: \"How could it be fair if the
\nmilitary has already been given 38 seats at the House even before
\nthe contest begins? It's not even certain yet that parties
\ncontesting the elections will be able to get that many seats!\"<\/p>\n
Among the issues that the students agreed on was their
\nopposition to the military's presence in the legislature.<\/p>\n
They disagreed on whether students should establish poll watch
\ngroups. Opponents to this idea said that monitoring the elections
\nwould be an endorsement of the exercise.<\/p>\n
\"However, we agreed that individual universities should decide
\ntheir own course on the matter,\" he said. \"(Some of us) agreed we
\ncould not accept the elections, but neither would we hinder it.\"<\/p>\n
The students agreed to set up what they called an \"anti-
\nviolence network\", and to continue pressing the political parties
\nto build a new, democratic Indonesia free from any \"Soehartoist
\nelements\".<\/p>\n
Abdul Salam Sembiring from Medan, North Sumatra, said students
\nwould always support campaigns to form a new and democratic
\nIndonesia, as long as the campaigns were peaceful and orderly.
\n\"That's what the people want, too,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the coordinator for the University Network for Free
\nand Fair Elections (Unfrel), Berlian Indriansyah, said also in
\nBandung that elections would be the gateway to a better
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Berlian was quoted by Antara as saying the elections were now
\nno longer a government responsibility but that of the nation,
\nincluding the students.<\/p>\n
Berlian, who is a student at the University of Indonesia's
\nschool of dentistry, said students should be involved not only in
\nmonitoring the elections but also educating the public.<\/p>\n
Berlian said Unfrel has been working with various
\norganizations such as the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi)
\nand the Independent Elections Monitoring Committee (KIPP) to
\nprepare students for the poll monitoring activities.<\/p>\n
Various universities have established their own poll watchdog
\ngroups, including the Indonesian Rectors Forum, which is in the
\nprocess of recruiting 450,000 students and lecturers for the
\npurpose. (43\/swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-support-poll-as-lesser-evil-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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