Army will stay away from election fray

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As fear grips the government that the elections will not be able to be held on time, the military has made it clear that it will refrain from taking actions it perceives would blemishing its neutrality.

With 33 days left until the elections, President Megawati Soekarnoputri urged the bureaucracy on Wednesday to assist the General Elections Commission (KPU).

"All state apparatus under the President, especially the bureaucracy, must be ready to lend a hand and support the KPU in their duties," Megawati said in a state apparatus national meeting in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

In Jakarta, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu warned Army officers against using military facilities, for fear that "it may affect the military's neutrality in the general election".

The four-star general also said in a meeting here on Wednesday that he would not involve his troops in securing the elections if it was aimed at replacing the role of the police, the newly appointed Army spokesman Col. Hotmangaradja Panjaitan said.

The closed-door meeting was attended by 650 Army field officers at the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) headquarters in Cijantung, East Jakarta.

The relationship between the army and the police has been strained since the later was separated from the military in 2000.

In Makassar, Megawati cited the problems faced by the KPU, such as the distribution of ballot papers and boxes, the lack of information about the new electoral system and other logistical issues.

"I fully understand that it should be handled by the KPU as the organizer, but for the sake of the nation, all state apparatus must support the KPU to deal with the problems," the President underlined.

TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said that the TNI, needed to know the rules of the game in providing assistance to the KPU.

Legislators, meanwhile, have thrown their weight behind the government's plan to assist the KPU to meet their deadline.

"Learning about the slow progress of the preparation by the KPU and the explanation from the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), it seems that the KPU is having difficulty in ensuring the preparations for the elections go according to schedule," legislator Ibrahim Ambong said.

The KPU is an independent body and the first of its kind in the nation's history.

Emerging from a closed-door meeting with BIN chief Gen. (ret) A.M. Hendropriyono Ambong said here on Wednesday that the KPU had revised some of its schedules 33 days ahead of the elections.

Amid fears of a delay in the elections, the KPU decided last Saturday to change the schedule of the printing and distribution of ballot papers.

Originally, the printing of ballot papers for House members was scheduled for Feb. 8, but was then delayed until Feb. 29. The ballot papers must have been distributed to all polling stations across the country by March 12.