Government promises fair general election
JAKARTA (JP): The government promised yesterday a fair general election in 1997, saying it would not risk ruining its good name by committing or allowing violations to occur.
"The government, as the organizer of the elections, won't sacrifice its good name by breaking regulations and committing violations," Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. said when addressing a meeting of Dharma Wanita, an organization of civil servants' wives, yesterday.
"To make mistakes is human, we admit that, but this won't mean that the government will intentionally break rules at the expense of other people's freedom of expression," he said.
In Yogyakarta, Attorney General Singgih, in his capacity as head of the official Election Monitoring Committee, promised that the committee will handle any election violations it might find in an objective manner.
"The committee's duty is to supervise, while the task to investigate violations belongs to the police," he said when giving a general lecture at the Islamic University's Law School yesterday.
He pointed out that it's easy for people to cry foul but it is more difficult to prove violations because the police will need evidence and witnesses.
"Sometimes, people who know of violations are not willing to testify in court," he said.
He said that in the 1992 general election, all three political contestants committed a number of violations. The Moslem-based United Development Party, for instance, held 1,241 rallies and committed 183 violations.
Violations
The ruling Golkar organization held 3,428 electioneering gatherings and committed 107 violations, while the Indonesian Democratic Party held 893 rallies and committed 213 violations, he said.
He did not specify how many of the violations were investigated and brought to court.
"One thing is for sure, all of the violations that were found were reported to the police," he said.
Singgih also reiterated the government's stance on the recent sprouting of independent poll watchdogs. He called the independent poll bodies unconstitutional.
"The public has the right to supervise the general elections. But everything should be done in accordance with the Constitution," he said. "The independent poll watchdogs do not have any legal foundation."
Last month around 50 intellectuals, activists and government critics established the Independent Election Monitoring Committee, whose goal is to ensure that the elections proceed fairly. It recently opened a bank account to collect donations from the public to finance its activities.
Controversy surrounding the watchdog had not subsided when a number of people, including many affiliated to Golkar, established similar organizations. (swe/imn/mun)