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)