Foreigners to be barred from investigating election

Foreigners to be barred from investigating election

JAKARTA (JP): The government will not allow the invited
foreign observers to investigate or pass judgment on the May 29
general election, an official said yesterday.

Soetojo N.K., director general of sociopolitical affairs at
the Ministry of Home Affairs, said that the foreigners would be
considered to be meddling in Indonesia's internal affairs if they
went beyond the granted privilege of observing the polls.

"We're letting foreigners come to see how the election
proceeds, but it is our right to judge the election. We did not
do anything but watch when we were invited by the governments of
neighboring countries to observe their elections," said Soetojo,
also secretary-general of the General Elections Institute.

He said the government was completing the registration of
invitees, who are likely to come from Southeast Asian countries.
"Not all countries will be invited, but Malaysia, Singapore and
our other neighbors will be for sure," he said.

He did not say how many foreign observers would be invited to
monitor the election.

The general election will be contested by the dominant
political group Golkar, the United Development Party and the
Indonesian Democratic Party.

It will be Indonesia's first election to be monitored by
foreign observers. The decision appears to be a compromise to the
two minority parties, which have complained about irregularities
in all the past elections.

Soetojo said that the government would give free access to
observers to monitor the various stages of the election,
especially the voting, but only to the foreigners who had
received formal invitations.

"Other foreigners may come as tourists, but we will not serve
them the way we plan to entertain our formal guests," Soetojo
said.

According to Soetojo. the rules set for foreign observers will
also affect the Independent Election Monitoring Committee, an
independent election watchdog led by the former editor of the now
defunct Tempo weekly magazine, Goenawan Mohamad.

"We don't need to invite them because they are Indonesian
citizens. They, as well as other non-governmental organizations,
have the right to give inputs to us but only through the proper
channels.

But they would not be allowed to intervene in the election
proceedings," Soetojo said.

He said the government would let the foreigners decide where
they wanted to go, but the final destinations would be decided in
the light of the facilities the government could provide.

"There will be 300,000 polling booths throughout the
archipelago. It will be difficult for us to just comply with all
of their wishes," he said.

Soetojo dismissed fears that those who were dissatisfied with
the general election would intercept and lodge their complaints
with the foreigners.

"We hope it will not happen. The plan remains an idea, and we
are now thinking about its implementation. We will make sure
everything runs well," Soetojo said.

He added that the government would learn from the upcoming
polls. "It will be our seventh election, and the sixth under the
New Order, this May. But all efforts to improve this election
compared to previous ones will be made," he said. (amd)

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