Golkar wins in Sampang revote

By Ainur R. Sophiaan

SAMPANG, East Java (JP): Thousands of United Development Party (PPP) supporters in Madura carried out their threat to boycott an election rerun here yesterday.

There was a poor turnout at most of the 65 polling stations where the vote was repeated under the watchful eyes of security forces led by East Java police chief Maj. Gen. Sumarsono.

In the absence of many PPP supporters, Golkar celebrated a comfortable win with 245,061 votes or 60 percent of the valid ballots. PPP, normally a regular winner on the predominantly Moslem island, won 161,896 and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) finished a distant third with 1,670.

Regent Fadlilah Budiono, who chairs the local election committee, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the turnout dropped sharply on Wednesday to 59 percent compared to more than 90 percent in last week's poll.

The result here will not change the distribution of seats in the House of Representatives. At 19.00 West Indonesia Time, the ruling Golkar had scooped 74.36 percent of the vote or 325 House seats, PPP gained 22.58 percent or 90 seats and PDI 3.06 percent or 10 seats. Election participation was 89.83 percent of the 124.7 million registered voters.

Business came to a halt in the town due to fears that there would be more riots like the ones that disrupted the election last Thursday.

Election committee officials had planned to hold an election rerun at 86 polling booths. This was reduced to 65 after they found copies of the results for 21 of the stations that had been reported burned in last week's riots.

Budiono said PPP scrutineers were given copies of the results. But the secretary of PPP's office here, Hasan Asy'ari, doubted the validity of the copies.

East Java's governor, Basofi Soedirman, said the decision to cancel the election rerun at 21 stations was taken shortly after the results were found Tuesday night, but the public and party scrutineers were only told minutes before the rerun began.

PPP local figures and religious leaders had demanded an election rerun at 1,033 polling stations across the regency, but the government agreed to a rerun at only 86.

Not a single one of the 513 registered voters in Rongtengah village turned up, except seven election committee officials and a Golkar witness. When it came to ballot counting, Golkar beat lackluster PPP eight to nil.

Locals cheered and clapped during the counting.

Gunung Sekar village showed a more realistic result, with PPP collecting 126 votes, Golkar 68 and the PDI one.

Meanwhile, police refused charismatic local ulema Alawy Muhammad's demand for four PPP supporters to be released from detention.

Alawy said that Ensiyanto, Abdul Latief, Habib Assegaf and Chalid were being questioned at the prosecutor's office. The detainees were among the 24 people arrested after the election riot.

At least 11 people were injured, four of them seriously, in the riot.

No more voting

In Jakarta, Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. ruled out the possibility of more election reruns, saying there was no good reason for a revote.

He said the election rerun was only warranted at the 86 polling stations in Sampang because the ballot boxes had been burned during three days of unrest in Madura.

"Another election rerun would be just a waste of time," said Yogie before a monthly cabinet meeting in Bina Graha.

Yogie chairs the General Elections Institute and the National Elections Committee.

PPP demanded Monday a repeat of the election in several regencies in East Java, West Sumatra, South Sulawesi and several districts in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Singgih reiterated the government's stance on election reruns, by saying the Sampang revote was valid even though no PPP scrutineers were present.

Singgih, the Elections Supervision Committee head, received PPP's allegations of vote-rigging during the election.

"Do not just blame the government for electoral violations. In South Sulawesi we are still investigating the forgery of voting notification forms by PPP officials," said Singgih before the cabinet meeting.

"We will take tough measures against vote-rigging and manipulation," said Singgih.