Gen. Moetojib wants campaigns changed

Gen. Moetojib wants campaigns changed

JAKARTA (JP): Mass rallies will have to be abandoned in future
election campaigns because they turn violent too easily, State
Intelligence Chief Lt. Gen. Moetojib said yesterday.

Moetojib said mass rallies were difficult to control and an
easy target for interest groups wanting to achieve their
political agendas by violent means.

"We think the election campaign should be redesigned in the
future," he told journalists after meeting with President
Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.

Moetojib said numerous cases of mob violence broke out during
the recent campaign when organizers failed to control the masses.

"We should not repeat the same mistake in the future," he
said.

According to independent observers the April 27 - May 23
election campaign was the most violent in Indonesia's election
history.

The most tragic incident occurred on the last day of
campaigning in the South Kalimantan capital of Banjarmasin when
123 people trapped in a plaza were burned to death.

Destroyed or damaged in the riots were hundreds of shops,
houses, vehicles, churches, schools, buildings, a Buddhist temple
and a rest home.

Moetojib said interest groups and certain non-governmental
organizations trying to destabilize the government were behind
the unrest.

Moetojib said "problematic NGOs" had obviously failed to
persuade people to boycott the May 29 election because more than
90 percent voted.

He said they wanted to change the current political system by
exaggerating the government's shortcomings.

"Their number is small but they have big mouths," Moetojib
said.

Last month the Armed Forces Sociopolitical Affairs Chief Lt.
Gen. Syarwan Hamid accused the Democratic People's Party (PRD) of
orchestrating the campaign violence.

Nine PRD leaders have been jailed on subversion charges.

Antigovernment elements continued circulating leaflets as part
of their effort to discredit the government, Moetojib said.

The intelligence chief said the recent unrest stemmed from
dissatisfaction with the current system, tension between
different groups in society, and the use of violence by interest
groups to achieve their goals.

One way to avoid more violence, Moetojib said, would be for
every citizen to refrain from resorting to violence and to refuse
to use violence to solve problems.

"If people already know that riots have been engineered by
interest groups or individuals, then they should refuse to get
involved in irresponsible acts," he said. (06)