Election not battle of supporters, says Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto reminded the nation yesterday the general election is not a battle between supporters of the three political groups.

It would be normal for parties participating in the general election, scheduled for May 29, to try to woo as many voters as possible, he said.

But he added the event, dubbed as the "fiesta of democracy", was not meant to be an arena where supporters of the political parties fought against each other.

"In such a situation, it's possible that certain parties would want to turn the healthy, democratic competition into a conflict by launching provocation," Soeharto told a meeting of the Ministry of Religious Affairs at the State Palace yesterday.

He identified a number of polarizing issues often exploited to create conflict, such as ethnicity, religion, race and social groups.

Accompanied by the Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher, Soeharto said the election should be a gauge of the community's ability to control and prevent social unrest.

"The election and the preceding election campaign should be an opportunity for political contestants to compete (to woo voters) with programs and ideas which benefit development," he said.

"We still have a long way to go and must work harder, but the existing shortcomings should not be an excuse to upset what we have achieved through hard work," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

The three political parties -- the United Development Party (PPP), the dominant Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- will start campaigning Sunday.

The campaign will end five days before the May 29 polls. This five-day "cooling off" period is allocated for the general election committee to make final preparations for ballot day.

Some 124 million eligible voters are expected to cast their vote. They will elect members of the House of Representatives in the election, held once every five years.

Golkar chairman Harmoko said yesterday the political organization would not resort to the issue of national leadership succession to attract voters.

"Our campaigners have been instructed not to mention any names of candidates for presidency and vice presidency," he was quoted by Antara as saying in Semarang over the weekend.

He said Golkar campaigners would only propose various programs in order to ensure sustainable economic development.

"We will disclose our presidential and vice presidential candidates when the right time comes, (namely) the general assembly of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)," he said.

The 1,000-strong MPR will convene in March next year to elect a president, vice president and establish the Broad Guidelines of State Policies.

Harmoko, who is also the minister of information, said Golkar campaigners would adhere to a set of directives contained in a book called Visi Pembangunan Golkar 2018 (The Golkar Vision of Development for 2018). Printed with a yellow cover, it's commonly called the yellow book.

Novelist Motinggo Busye launched Golkar dan Harmoko (Golkar and Harmoko) in Jakarta yesterday. Motinggo wrote the book as a present for Harmoko's 58th birthday on Feb. 7, 1997. (imn)