'Direct election in 2004 at all costs'

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Pnom Penh

The 2004 presidential and vice presidential election will have to take place regardless of the financial burden it places on the state budget, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has asserted.

Speaking to members of the Indonesian community living in Cambodia during a function at the Indonesian embassy here, Megawati said the election must go ahead as it would serve as a learning process for both the general public and the political elite in Indonesia.

"The finance minister has started to raise questions over the significant state funds that will be needed for the election. The security forces are also questioning the cost of maintaining security. But whatever the case, we must proceed with the election," Megawati said.

The President was attending the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) summit here, and is to fly back to Jakarta late on Tuesday.

Indonesia will elect members of the House of Representatives, Regional Representatives Council and the president/vice president in 2004. The latter election is to be direct for the first time ever.

The House is debating whether the elections should take place simultaneously or separately as proposed by the government.

The People's Consultative Assembly has stipulated that the presidential/vice presidential election, the bill for which is being prepared by the government, should be conducted in two rounds unless one of the contesting tickets wins a simple majority and collects in at least 16 provinces.

Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, which won the most votes in 1999, initially rejected direct presidential elections, citing the public's lack of preparedness for the new system.

The President said it would be a challenge to proceed with the elections, for which 218 political parties have registered themselves. Only 48 parties contested the 1999 elections.

"I wonder how the people will choose from all of these parties," Megawati remarked, adding that the number could be reduced if the people so wanted.

The presidential/vice presidential election would be complicated too because of the requirements that had been set.

"We have to be prepared for whatever will happen, whether there is to be a single round or two rounds," the President said.

Megawati also expressed her concern about the way her critics continued to attack her administration without offering solutions or concrete answers.

She particularly hit out at government critics for insisting that the economic and political crises plaguing the country would continue. This belief, she said, would only discourage recovery efforts.

"Even foreigners love our country and hope Indonesia will emerge from the crises. Should those foreigners be asked to mend this nation? Of course not, it's our responsibility," Megawati said.