Uphold election rules: Soeharto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto called on the public
\nyesterday to stick to the rules of the game in the 1997 general
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Only if everybody follows the rules will the upcoming election
\nproceed peacefully, the president said, addressing the annual
\nthree-day conference of the Information Ministry.<\/p>\n
\"I would like to use this occasion to urge all government
\nofficials, contestants and the public to make the 1997 election a
\nsuccess,\" the President said.<\/p>\n
The President said that people will go to polling stations and
\ncast their ballots only if the election is peaceful.<\/p>\n
Three political organizations, Golkar, the United Development
\nParty (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), will take
\npart in the election.<\/p>\n
They will contest 425 of the 500 seats in the House of
\nRepresentatives. The 75 remaining seats are reserved for the
\nArmed Forces, which do not take part in the election.<\/p>\n
The general election will be followed by the presidential
\nelection in March 1998 by the 1,000 member People's Consultative
\nAssembly, which consists of all 500 House members,
\nrepresentatives of the bureaucracy and major organizations.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said the election, the fifth in his 30-year reign, is
\nnot only a process to elect new House members.<\/p>\n
\"It is also a forum to push democracy ahead,\" he said. \"Our
\nsuccess in development is not measured by economic success but
\nalso by our democracy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Four hundred and sixty-three officials of the information
\nministry attended the conference. The President asked them to
\nprepare the information campaign for the upcoming election.<\/p>\n
\"The campaign should focus on improving the public's political
\nawareness for a better implementation of the general election.
\n(pan)<\/p>",
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