Army will stay away from election fray

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.