Govt defends decree over poll results validation

JAKARTA (JP): The government on Saturday threw its support behind the General Elections Commission (KPU), which is facing the possibility that minor parties will refuse to sign the poll results.

Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid said at his office on Saturday that approval of the official Elections Supervisory Committee was all the only legal condition needed to validate the poll results.

An article in the decree stipulates that the Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) can validate the final poll results even if two-thirds of the General Elections Commission (KPU) members decline to approve them.

Syarwan said Government Decree No. 33/1999 on Practical Guidelines for the General Elections, issued in May, was lawful "as it was made by all related elements for the general election".

The government has five representatives on the elections commission, with a weight equal to that of the 48 party representatives.

Some minor parties on the commission have said they may not sign official results if problems regarding violations of the polling and vote counting were not settled.

They cited the 1999 Electoral Law, saying that the General Elections Commission is responsible for deciding the final results of the polls, and protested the government decree, saying it limited the KPU's authority over the poll results.

Minor parties have been criticized for delaying the announcement of the final poll results, which are tentatively scheduled for July 21, from the initial date of July 8.

Poll violations have been reported by the Elections Supervisory Committee to the Supreme Court, which is authorized to investigate the reports. However, few reports have been acted upon.

Poll results from 18 provinces showed that Maluku had a voter turnout of 109.28 percent, as more ballots were counted than the 1.025 million registered voters.

Nationwide, PDI Perjuangan was leading with 100 seats in the House of Representatives, Golkar Party was running second with 46 seats and the National Awakening Party (PKB) was in third place with 35 seats.

Also on Saturday, Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Feisal Tanjung criticized the minor parties, some of which have insisted that they be represented in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) although they had failed to secure House of Representatives seats.

Feisal said his office had identified that ahead of the MPR General Session there were three different political groupings -- those supporting the Session, those against the session and "political adventurers". But he declined to elaborate.

In Bandung, West Java, chairman of the Association of Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) Achmad Tirtosudiro said that the controversy over the president's gender should not be an issue.

"Even the Indonesian Council of Ulema has different opinions on the issue," he said. He cited three stances: acceptance of a female president, opposition to the view and acceptance of a female president as long as she was "capable, morally and technically acceptable, and healthy". Achmad was addressing the press during ICMI's national coordination meeting.

Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), front-runner in the polls, is at the center of the controversy.

Support for Megawati continued to be voiced on Saturday. Supporters in Yogyakarta collected signatures from passersby, an action planned to continue until July 18 with the intention of covering a 1,100-meter-long cloth. Banners in front of Gedung Agung, a building formerly used as state palace when Yogyakarta was the capital in the first years of independence, said, "Welcome to the State Palace, President of Indonesia Ibu Megawati."

In Kediri, East Java, about 100 religious leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim organization, said that based on Islamic teachings, all the current presidential candidates lacked the requirements to lead the country. However, they said MPR members would have to pick the best of available candidates.

Imron Hamzah, spokesman of the organization's team discussing presidential candidates, said leaders should be capable, have integrity, a sense of justice and the ability to implement Islamic laws.(imn/rms/43/44/nur)