General election legally, morally defective: Megawati

General election legally, morally defective: Megawati

JAKARTA (JP): The ousted chief of the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI), Megawati Soekarnoputri, said the general election
was politically, legally and morally defective and was trampling
on human rights.

A delegation, representing the party's old executive board
under Megawati, visited the National Commission on Human Rights
yesterday. They delivered a list of violations which had
allegedly occurred in the lead-up to the election, including the
campaign.

The delegates, Haryanto Taslam, Roy B.B. Yanis, M. Sianipar,
Tarto Sudiro, Noviantika Nasution and Sunggul Siahoy, met
commission members Arnold Baramuli, Koesparmono Irsan, Sugiri and
Clementino dos Reis Amaral.

Amaral quoted Megawati as saying, "The 1997 general election
is unfair, especially regarding the PDI's participation, pending
a court ruling on which faction is lawful and should be legally
permitted to join the polls."

Amaral said the delegation had asked the commission to deliver
its grievances to the government.

"As for the commission's stance, we'll discuss it in our next
plenary meeting," Amaral was quoted by Antara as saying.

After a government-backed rebel party congress toppled her in
Medan, North Sumatra, last June, Megawati has been challenging
the validity of the party's new leader, Soerjadi, in court.

The Central Jakarta District Court is yet to rule on the case,
which is Megawati's main platform for saying that Soerjadi must
not be allowed to contest the election.

In a statement issued yesterday, Megawati said her faction was
carefully monitoring how the government had organized the first
stages of the general election, and had found that civilian and
military officials often violated the 1945 Constitution and human
rights.

"The election is morally defective, legally defective, morally
defective, and tramples on human rights," she said.

Megawati accused Golkar of campaigning before the official
campaign period began. She accused the Central Java
administration of painting all public property Golkar yellow.

She accused the regent of Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, and
military officials there of intimidating her supporters.

She said her supporters across the country had been heavily
intimidated before and after the rebel congress.

"Security personnel have excessively intimidated pro-Megawati
PDI supporters, and have trampled on people's right to assemble
as guaranteed by the constitution," she said in the list of
grievances.

"Civilian and military officials have trampled on people's
rights to freedom from inhumane treatment," she added.

The list contained a detailed description of the Medan
congress held by Soerjadi, Fatimah Achmad and their colleagues.
Megawati accused the government and military personnel of
sponsoring the congress which caused the party to have "dual
leadership".

"The congress was unlawful because it violated the party's
statutes," she said. "The civilian and military officials
violated people's freedom to assemble, their rights to freedom
from fear and rights to live safely." (swe)