Government says E. Java electoral committee valid
Government says E. Java electoral committee valid
JAKARTA (JP): The government confirmed the validity of the newly-established electoral committee in East Java, which leaves the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) unrepresented, but gave the party until May to resolve its bickering.
"Oh, it's valid, it's valid. Who says it isn't ?" said Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. after opening a meeting of officials of the 27 regional electoral committee here yesterday.
He was commenting on the statement of the PDI central executive board that the East Java electoral committee, which Governor Basofi Soedirman inaugurated on Monday, was not valid because it excluded the PDI.
Yogie pointed to a ministerial decree which gives leaders of local party chapters, in this case the East Java chapter of PDI, the authority to propose names to sit at the regional electoral committee.
"There no such thing as the East Java PDI leadership at the moment," Yogie was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying.
Yogie was referring to the protracted leadership conflict within the PDI chapter. Latief Pudjosakti and Sutjipto both claimed to be the rightful chapter chairman.
"Please solve the squabbling by May," Yogie said.
The minister also said that Basofi is currently trying to bring the two camps together. "Only then can the PDI be accepted in the regional committee," he said.
Assembly
PDI reportedly plans, if it remains unrepresented until the general elections next year, to take the matter to the People's Consultative Assembly in 1998, just before President Soeharto gives his account of duty.
"Go ahead, if there are laws that regulate such a notion," Yogie said.
He remained optimistic, however, that the PDI seats at the regional committee would be vacant only temporarily and that all political contestants -- PDI, Golkar and the United Development Party (PPP) -- would participate in the elections.
"I hope that everything will be resolved by May, as Soeryadi Setiawan (the head of the East Java office of social and political affairs) has suggested," Yogie said. "Let's wait and see. What's important is that the two men sit down and talk."
The rift within East Java PDI has been dragging on for months, with no signs of any compromise. The East Java administration, which apparently backs Latief, refuses to recognize either and insists on a fresh election.
Chief of the PDI central executive board Megawati Soekarnoputri considers Sutjipto the legitimate leader and charged Basofi with meddling in the party's internal affairs.
Basofi's decision to leave the PDI seats in the electoral committee vacant was met with criticism from a number of politicians and observers. Even the spokesman of the Ministry of Home Affairs H.S.A. Jussac said the move is making the government come across as "defective".
Jussac also said that the solution now is for Megawati to hold a meeting with all of the party's leaders in East Java and resolve the conflict once and for all.
Also yesterday, Yogie, in his capacity as the chairman of the national electoral committee, said that the 1997 general elections will see a number of changes, made in order to improve its quality.
Among the changes he mentioned was the increase in the number of contested seats at the House of Representatives (DPR), from 400 to 425. The remaining 75 seats are allotted for representatives of the Armed Forces who do not compete in the general elections.
In addition, the national electoral committee has also decided to extend the opportunity for representatives of the competing political grouping to witness the balloting process. The announcement of registered voters will also be conducted in such a way as to ensure that voters will know for sure whether they have been registered.
"With those changes, hopefully the 1997 elections will pass off better," he said. (swe)
Nomination -- Page 2
Editorial -- Page 4