Government promises fair general election
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)