Civil servants told to vote for Golkar

DILI: East Timorese Civil Servant Corps members have been told they should vote for Golkar, the dominant political organization, in the May election.

Secretary of the corps' East Timorese chapter A.H. Latuconsina said the rule also applied to wives of the civil servants grouped in the Dharma Wanita organization.

Latuconsina said civil servants were required to vote for Golkar because as a pillar of the bureaucracy they should unite behind the ruling grouping.

"But mind you, the civil servants are not being intimidated to vote for Golkar. It is just that as managers of the administration they should vote for Golkar," he said.

On May 29, Golkar will contest the election against the United development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party.

Golkar, with strong backing from the bureaucracy, the Armed Forces and business, is expecting to win more than 300 of the 425 House of Representatives seats being contested. (33)