Vote-rigging allegations spur call for repolling<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Alleged vote-rigging involving Golkar Party and
\ngovernment officials prompted more demands on Friday that polls
\nbe reheld in several provinces.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, a tense provincial elections committee meeting
\nconcluded with an agreement to recount millions of ballots after
\ninconsistencies were discovered in the original count.<\/p>\n
The demand that ballots be recounted in Jakarta came from the
\nrepresentatives of 32 minor political parties on the committee.<\/p>\n
National Elections Committee chairman Jacob Tobing said
\nrecounting the ballots would further slow the process but it was
\nworth any delays for the sake of credible elections.<\/p>\n
He also said voting would be repeated in a number of areas and
\nbetween 800,000 and 1 million voters, or 0.8 percent of the 117
\nmillion eligible voters, would be affected.<\/p>\n
New calls for the rejection of elections results came from
\nNorth Sulawesi and South Sulawesi. Similar calls were earlier
\nvoiced in Southeast Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and South
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
In the North Sulawesi capital of Manado, 18 of the 39
\npolitical parties who contested the elections in the province
\nagreed on Friday to reject the results of the polls and called
\nfor the elections to be reheld.<\/p>\n
In a joint press statement, the protesting parties also
\ndemanded Golkar be disqualified because it bought votes and
\nmobilized government officials to help it win the polls.<\/p>\n
Among the parties calling for a revote are the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the National
\nAwakening Party (PKB), the Indonesian Mandate Party (PAN), the
\nUnited Development Party (PPP), the Justice and Unity Party (PKP)
\nand the Indonesian National Christian Party (Krisna).<\/p>\n
The spokesman for the parties, F. Sumampouw, said the
\nelections were neither free nor fair because Golkar used money
\npolitics and included government officials and members of the
\nmilitary on its list of legislative candidates. He said Golkar's
\ntactics were intended to mobilize the bureaucracy and the
\nmilitary in support of the party.<\/p>\n
He also alleged that \"political hoodlums\" intimidated
\nwitnesses during vote counting.<\/p>\n
The 18 political parties threatened to withdraw their
\nlegislative candidates unless the elections were repeated, Antara
\nreported.<\/p>\n
Separately, some 300 supporters of PDI Perjuangan and the
\nDemocratic People's Party (PRD) staged a demonstration at the
\ngovernor's office on Friday demanding the polls be reheld.<\/p>\n
Golkar has secured a comfortable lead in Manado with 831,147
\nvotes, followed by PDI Perjuangan with 107,127 votes and PPP with
\n78,657.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, calls for the rejection of the June 7 polls in
\nSouth Sulawesi gained momentum on Friday when 46 political
\nparties in the province joined forces to demand the elections be
\nreheld.<\/p>\n
They said the polls were unfair due to intimidation and vote
\nbuying by Golkar Party, which retained strong support from the
\ncivil service and military in the province.<\/p>\n
Of the 47 opposition parties, only the Abul Yatama Party did
\nnot join in the demand that the polls be repeated because it does
\nnot have a branch office in South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
After a tense meeting, officials from the 46 political parties
\nissued a joint statement demanding the elections be reheld and
\nthe dismissal of the Gowa, Polmas and Bulukumba regents for
\nallegedly assisting Golkar during the polls.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the party alliance, Saleh Bustami, said
\nGolkar's sins were unforgivable.<\/p>\n
\"Golkar bought votes, used intimidation and involved civil and
\nmilitary officials to win the election,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Golkar, which used its presidential nomination of B.J. Habibie
\n-- a South Sulawesi native -- to attract local voters, raced to a
\nbig lead in the provisional vote tally.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, the spokesman for the National Elections
\nSupervisory Committee, Dadang Hawari, said on Thursday elections
\ncould not be reheld unless the Provincial Elections Supervisory
\nCommittee could prove the alleged vote-rigging.<\/p>\n
He said demands the polls be repeated showed that the public
\nhad an awareness of free and fair elections.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the North Sumatran mayoralty of Sibolga will go to
\nthe polls on June 14, the secretary of the local elections
\ncommittee, Tar. M. Samalanga, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The elections in Sibolga were postponed because of logistical
\nproblems, including an inadequate supply of ballots and indelible
\nink. (27\/ind\/40\/imn\/pan)<\/p>",
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