ABRI keeps eye on election watchdog

ABRI keeps eye on election watchdog

JAKARTA (JP): Top military officials have promised to remain
vigilant towards possible transgressions by a newly formed
independent poll watchdog despite the absence of any indication
it has negative intentions.

Army Chief Gen. R. Hartono admitted that there is as yet
nothing to suggest that the Independent Election Monitoring
Committee (KIPP) will deviate from its stated aims.

"I haven't received any reports that the committee's actions
diverge from the spirit in which it was declared some time ago,"
he told Antara on Saturday.

Speaking after the inauguration of Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso as chief
of the Jakarta Military Command, Hartono warned the independent
watchdog not to deviate from "the corridors allowed by the law".

The committee was founded earlier this month in reaction to
the public's growing call for a mechanism, independent of the
official poll monitoring body, the Election Supervision
Committee, to watch over the next year's general election.

Government officials in Jakarta have responded cautiously to
this new group, while several governors have altogether rejected
the possibility of accepting the Independent Election Monitoring
Committee in their province.

Armed Forces (ABRI) chief of general affairs Lt. Gen. Soeyono
said that while the military is not against the monitoring
committee, that does not mean that it is disregarding the new
group.

Disruptions

He warned that ABRI will not tolerate any disruptions in the
1997 general election and the 1998 plenary session of the
People's Consultative Assembly.

"People are the most important aspect of any organization. If
it is being run by irresponsible elements, then the organization
will also become irresponsible," Soeyono said.

Goenawan Mohammad, chief editor of the now banned Tempo
magazine, chairs the committee, while the Indonesian Legal Aid
Foundation's Mulyana W. Kusumah is its secretary-general.

Meanwhile, the chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI), Megawati Soekarnoputri, described the formation of the
independent poll watchdog as a manifestation of the people's
will.

Speaking in a celebration of the party's 23rd anniversary in
Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Megawati said it was perfectly
within the people's constitutional right to partake in the
overseeing of a fair and honest election.

However, she then queried why there was such an overwhelming
drive to form such an independent watchdog.

"What should become a question to us all is why the people
stressed the need for such a body which has now taken shape in
the form of KIPP to monitor the 1997 election process," the
daughter of former president Sukarno said as quoted by Antara.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, the Minister of Transmigration
Siswono Yudohusodo acknowledged the presence of the watchdog as a
congruent development.

"Every Indonesian citizen has an equal right to oversee the
implementation of the general election. If there is someone who
thinks it necessary to monitor it, then go ahead, it's quite
natural," he said.

Siswono, however, pointed out that there was an officially
sanctioned body for the purpose and remarked that the monitoring
of elections can be done individually and not necessarily through
an organization such as the monitoring committee.

"I myself, as member of the community during the previous
elections, took part in the monitoring of the polls. There was no
limitation, it was all done openly," Siswono said. (mds)