Election body sets campaign schedule

Election body sets campaign schedule

JAKARTA (JP): The soon-to-be disbanded General Election Agency
has scheduled the election campaign to run from May 18 through
June 6, and banned the mobilization of the masses in order to
prevent clashes among party supporters.

The chairman of the agency, Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan
Hamid, said the election agenda which included the campaign
season has been arranged to give ample time for the political
parties to prepare for the June 7 polls.

"So what we have here is a tentative schedule starting from
the registration of political parties to the actual balloting and
the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) General Session in
November," he said after a meeting of the election agency
leadership.

Syarwan said in accordance with the legislation on general
elections, political parties contesting the poll were required to
hold indoor campaign activities.

"Political parties will not be allowed to mobilize the masses
in open fields and party supporters will be barred from taking to
the streets. These measures are meant to prevent clashes and
violence like in the past," he said.

He also said around 30 out of the around 200 political parties
are expected to be eligible to contest the elections.

The agency itself, known by the local acronym of LPU, would be
replaced by an independent elections committee called KPU
stipulated in the newly-endorsed act on elections.

Also attending on Monday were Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali
Alatas, Minister of Justice Muladi, Secretary-General of the home
affairs ministry Feisal Tamin, Chief of Armed Forces Territorial
Affairs Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Deputy House Speaker
Hari Sabarno and several legislators.

The three pieces of legislation on political parties, general
elections and composition of the Assembly, the House of
Representatives, provincial and regency legislatures were
endorsed by the House on Jan. 28. After one month of
dissemination, the bills are expected to be accepted enough by
the public for President B.J. Habibie to sign them into law.

The tentative election schedule is as follows:

* Feb. 1-March 1: Registration and selection of political
parties eligible to contest the elections.

* March 16-April 17: Registration of voters.

* March 15-April 15: Nomination of legislators for the House
of Representatives, and for provincial and regency legislatures.

* May 18-June 6: Election campaign season.

* June 7: Balloting and vote counting.

* July 3-12: Announcement of election results for House
legislators. Those winning seats in provincial legislatures will
be announced from June 27 until July 2 while election results for
regency legislative councils will be announced between June 20
and June 26.

* Aug. 29: Inauguration of new legislators in the lower House.
Legislators in regency and provincial legislatures will be
installed on July 20 and July 25 respectively.

Litsus

Meanwhile, election agency spokesman Herman Ibrahim said
candidate legislators would no longer be subjected to the
notorious screening process, known as Litsus or special
screening, by certain agencies, especially the Armed Forces.

Presidential elections will be held during the Assembly's
General Session which is scheduled to start on Nov. 11.

Herman also said the election agency was set to be disbanded
on March 1 and would be replaced by an independent election
committee (KPU) whose main task was to organize the elections.

"Before being officially disbanded, the election agency will
handle four main tasks: Preparing a work plan and elections
schedule, disseminating the political laws, training staff that
will be involved in running the elections and establishing an
independent team to select political parties," he said.

"The government and parties eligible for the election will
form the National Election Committee," he said.

He added the new committee would further arrange matters
related to the elections, including establishment of a code of
conduct and selecting nominees for representatives of social and
mass organizations for the MPR.

Syarwan emphasized the importance of the elections, saying it
was an absolute necessity in the context of political reform.

"That is why we have joined forces to complete the
deliberation of the political bills in time because they form the
legal foundation for the elections," he said.

Many political parties have criticized the bills and the
government regulation on civil servants for their failure to
accommodate their aspirations.

Syarwan called for public commitment to a democratic, fair and
free general election. He said it was needed to establish a
strong political platform for democratization, and for the
establishment of a legitimate and credible government so the
nation could soon defuse the crisis.

The strong platform for political reform was only needed to
curb the prevalent money politics and politically related
violence, he said.

"The public is awaiting a friendly political situation where
components and parties are able to form mutual solidarity," he
said. (rms)