Govt hardens stance on poll body
Govt hardens stance on poll body
JAKARTA (JP): After weeks of controversy and a number of
contradictory official statements, the government made clear
unequivocally yesterday that it does not welcome the newly-
established Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP).
"The government does not need this," head of the official
Election Supervision Committee Singgih said after meeting
President Soeharto to whom he reported the completion of some of
the early stages of the general elections.
"The Independent Election Monitoring Committee may observe the
ballot casting, but its members may not check anything, or enter
polling booths," Singgih, who is also the Attorney General, said.
He said the official poll supervision body was quite enough,
as it already represents the three political contestants --
Golkar, the United Development Party and the Indonesian
Democratic Party -- as well as the government.
"We don't need this body or any other body like it," he
argued, adding that only the Election Supervision Committee has
the legal right to monitor the general elections.
The independent poll body was established last month by some
50 intellectuals, human rights campaigners and government
critics. Lamenting the violations in the previous five general
elections, the founders said they planned to monitor all stages
of the 1997 poll.
Military and civil officials were split in their comments on
the body, whose establishment has now spawned other independent
watchdogs, a new phenomenon in Indonesian political history.
The Association of Islamic Students (HMI) warned its members
against joining any independent poll watchdogs.
"Those who have already joined should quit or face
punishment," chairman Taufik Hidayat said in a press conference.
"This is the organization's official stance which must be
followed by all members."
The student organization, which used to be influential,
particularly in the heyday of the anti-establishment movement in
the 1960s, did not specify what kind of punishment is to be meted
out to dissenting members.
"It'll depend on the violation," Taufik said. He denied that
this stance was taken to counter the Independent Election
Monitoring Committee.
The organization, with its 250,000 members across the country,
would not support the independent poll watchdog because it was
planning to supervise the general elections itself, he said.
Taufik claimed the organization had been active in the
monitoring of the previous general elections, and had found
evidence of violations. He failed to elaborate.
HMI would not support KIPP or other poll bodies since the
organization would also be monitoring the 1997's general
election, Taufik said.
Although Taufik claimed that the organization had also
monitored the previous elections, he was unable to come up with
reports of its findings. "We lack documentation," he said.
He also denied reports that some of the organization's
branches, including those in Jakarta, Surabaya, Ujungpandang,
Bandung, Yogyakarta and Semarang, had affiliated themselves with
local branches of KIPP.
Anas Urbaningrum, a colleague of Taufik, said the organization
would report the results of its monitoring of the 1997 general
elections to the official Election Supervision Committee, and to
the three political groupings. (swe/01)
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