1997 campaign, election more destructive: UI

DEPOK, West Java (JP): The 1997 campaign and general election was much more violent, destructive and fatal than past campaigns and elections, a team of University of Indonesia researchers concluded yesterday.

Led by political scientist Maswadi Rauf, a team of researchers at the university's Political Science Laboratory had analyzed the election coverage between April 28 and May 23 in four national newspapers and seven regional newspapers.

"This is ironic, because it happened despite the government's efforts to prevent riots long before the election campaign began," Maswadi said, citing the division of regions into campaign zones to prevent clashes between party supporters and the smaller party gatherings.

Campaign-related unrest and traffic accidents caused the deaths of more than 200 people, and damage to scores of buildings and other property.

The researchers agreed that the unrest had occurred because of the large crowds at rallies, party fanaticism and increasing tension.

Trivial incidents, such as one or two people throwing stones at rival supporters, had often led to riots.

"The campaign showed that Indonesians preferred large rallies, where crowds were mobilized for public gatherings," Maswadi said. "The numbers were considered as an indicator of support for certain parties."

"It's a misperception... and a difficult one to change," he said.

The researchers said the "dialogue campaign" of question and answer sessions to encourage communication had not fared well. The party faithful rather than the targeted undecided had attended the sessions.

"Those who were undecided did not dare to attend contestants' rallies because they were afraid of the brutal faces of supporters who were waving the parties' finger signs," Maswadi said.

He said the sessions, attended by 500 to 2,000 people, were too big for effective exchange.

The team cited the "dual roles" of bureaucrats, from governors to village chiefs, of helping Golkar win while running the election had also contributed to the unrest.

The dual role had caused many bureaucrats to resort to violence as they forced or scared people into voting for Golkar, the researchers concluded.

Another contributing factor was "overreacting security personnel", the researchers said. Rumors that the personnel were discriminating against supporters of the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party helped cause unrest.

The researchers cited examples of rioters throwing stones at or destroying police office buildings.

The team concluded that more, better-quality dialogue sessions should be held in the next campaign so that people would be encouraged to share their opinions. "This should be done gradually," Maswadi said.

KIPP

The Independent Election Monitoring Committee's (KIPP) city chapter said yesterday it considered polling in Jakarta for the May 29 election had been successful, despite rampant electoral rule violations by government officials.

Committee secretary Juri A.F criticized the involvement of civil servants in Golkar's campaign.

The committee had dispatched 200 volunteers around the city. They found that the election had harmed students' and civil servants' ethics. Many electoral rule violations were committed in polling booths near schools or government offices.

Juri said some people had been bribed to vote at three different polling stations, students below the voting age of 17 had been told to vote and bullied into voting for Golkar.

Committee chief Yopie Renyaan urged the government to review its policy on the distribution of AB cards, which permit people to vote outside their neighborhoods, and to hold the election on a holiday. "The (AB card) policy and the staging of elections on working days cause loopholes which can be easily abused," he said. (39/11)