Foreign election observers welcomed

Foreign election observers welcomed

JAKARTA (JP): An independent poll watchdog activist and a
politician said yesterday they could not wait for the government
to keep its promise to allow foreigners to monitor the May 29
election.

They agreed that the promise highlighted the government's
confidence that the election would be clean, honest and fair.

Mulyana W. Kusumah, the Independent Election Monitoring
Committee's secretary-general, said the Indonesian government
wanted to show the world there would be nothing to hide in the
forthcoming election.

"It's a progressive move that will improve the government's
public accountability," he told reporters.

However, Mulyana said the decision to invite foreign observers
should not be seen as anything unusual.

"It's a global phenomenon that has already happened in
Thailand, the Philippines and several other democratic
countries."

Last week Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., who also
chairs the General Elections Institute, guaranteed that foreign
observers would have access to monitor all stages of the
elections, including visiting polling booths, on May 29.

But the government has yet to make it clear who it will
invite.

According to Mulyana, a coalition of non-governmental
organizations in the United States called the Global Exchange had
applied to the Indonesian government to observe the election.

He also said that other NGOs, along with several other
independent observers in European countries like Finland and
Sweden would follow suit.

Mulyana said the government should also recognize the
independent Indonesian watchdog.

Hadimulyo of the United Development Party agreed with Mulyana,
saying that if foreigners were to be allowed to observe the
various stages of the general election, Indonesians should be
permitted to do the same.

"A general election is like a family party," he told The
Jakarta Post.

"If the family is determined to invite neighbors, why should
its own children be shoved away? Does it make sense to trust
other people more than your own children?"

The Independent Election Monitoring Committee, chaired by the
former chief editor of the now-banned Tempo magazine, Goenawan
Mohamad, has recruited about 2,000 volunteers to observe the
election, according to Mulyana.

It will focus its activities in Pematang Siantar, Palembang,
Lampung, Jakarta, Cianjur, Semarang, Malang, and Ujungpandang, he
said.

In a statement made available to the Post, the committee
reiterated its "nonpartisanship" principle, vowing to stay
neutral and objective.

It also vowed to avoid political activities that are against
the existing rules, norms, and laws on general elections.
(aan/amd)