Candidates promote unrealistic promises: Study

Candidates promote unrealistic promises: Study

Tiarma Siboro
Jakarta

Non-governmental organization The Institute for Democracy Studies
(LKaDe) criticized on Tuesday presidential and vice presidential
candidates for the unrealistic promises they have made during
nearly three weeks of public campaigning.

To make matters worse, LKaDe said all candidates forgot to
promote primary issues, such as protection of children and women
against illegal trafficking, empowerment of disabled people, the
elimination of discrimination against people of Chinese descent
and against other minority groups, the investigation of
unresolved cases involving human rights abuses and the
introduction of a clear concept on internal military reform.

LKaDe chairman Sukowaluyo Mintorahardjo said the promises of
low cost education to freeing parents from tuition fees,
were "unrealistic, because the government has allocated a huge
budget of no less than Rp 93 trillion (US$99 billion) to the
education sector -- yet it cannot accommodate free tuition and
low-cost education programs."

Sukowaluyo and his colleagues are from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who nominated incumbent
president Megawati Soekarnoputri. In the area of education her
promise was "more realistic" as she offered to raise the number
of students who receive scholarships, he said.

Sukowaluyo, who was accompanied by legislator Didiek
Supriyanto also highlighted responses from Gen. (ret) Wiranto,
the Golkar Party candidate, and Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono from the Democratic Party, with regard to the
eradication of corruption.

"Both candidates have promised to impose the death sentence on
corruptors but I don't think they could do that," Sukowaluyo
said, adding "their statements imply interference in the
country's legal system".

He was referring to Anticorruption Law No. 39/1999, which
stipulates a maximum 20 years in jail for convicted corruptors;
the death sentence could only be enforced under special
circumstances, such as an emergency situation.

LKaDe was established by PDI-P members critical of Megawati.
It monitored the campaigns of all the presidential candidates
from June 1 to June 20.

Sukowaluyo also criticized the candidates' economic platforms
as most claim to be able to create more job opportunities for
hundreds of thousands of jobless people, while the government is
not in a position to create such opportunities.

"The creation of job opportunities belongs to the private
sector, while the government is responsible for creating a
positive situation by streamlining the arduous bureaucracy and
abolishing conflicting regulations.

The job opportunities the candidates can create, he said, are
for civil servants or servicemen and women.