Don't stop campaigning: Amien

Don't stop campaigning: Amien

UJUNGPANDANG (JP): Stopping the campaign for fear of more
violence would have adverse political consequences, political
observer Amien Rais said here yesterday.

"If campaigning is stopped... people could say that it has
been defective, and that the (poll's) results are defective," he
told The Jakarta Post.

He was commenting on suggestions that campaigning, especially
street rallies, be stopped because it had caused many fatalities.
The official death toll for campaign traffic accidents is at
least 73.

There have also been many attacks and counterattacks by rival
party supporters which have left people dead or seriously
injured, property vandalized and an atmosphere of fear.

"We only have a few more campaign days to go, so all the poll
contestants and security personnel must work as hard as possible
to prevent violence," he said. "Let there be no more clashes."

National Commission on Human Rights' secretary-general,
Baharuddin Lopa, called on the three parties' leaders to join
street rallies to control their supporters.

"Don't just talk from high podiums, but mingle and manage
supporters," he said at his office in Jakarta. "Campaigning is
meaningless if it causes death and fear among the people."

He said that the rallies were not all bad because they were a
democratic outlet which had encouraged people to express their
opinions.

He was against stopping the campaign because it "would only
cause clashes".

The Association of Catholic Students lodged a protest with the
commission yesterday over the police questioning of two members
in Ende, East Nusa Tenggara, for conducting a survey on the
election.

Student spokesman Alfonsus B. Say said the police were wrong
because surveying was not a crime.

Bernadus B. Daya and B. Gae Longa were questioned for five
hours in Ende on May 1 by local prosecutors, and for four hours
by local police.

They were accused of disrupting stability and order by
distributing illegal leaflets.

The survey, with 500 respondents, found that 26 percent of
people would not vote, 25 percent would vote Golkar, 14 percent
would vote United Development Party and 17 percent would vote
Indonesian Democratic Party. (37/05/swe)