Govt warns of legal recourse for allies of instability

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Putting down its foot in the face of political plots to reject the election results, the government has threatened to take legal action against those who orchestrated such a move.

In a teleconference with top officials of 30 provinces on Wednesday, President Megawati Soekarnoputri asked the regional administrations to uphold security and order and stay calm in the case of provocation from political alliances against the election.

"Should the political alliance grow and spark instability, we will take legal measures against them," interim coordinating minister for political and security affairs Hari Sabarno said after the teleconference.

The minister was referring to the 17 political parties that recently launched a joint protest against the General Elections Commission (KPU) for alleged violations that had occurred before and after election day on April 5.

Earlier, the political parties -- most of which had failed to garner 2 percent of votes as of Wednesday's tally -- had announced that they would reject the poll results and demand a revote.

The announcement immediately received harsh criticisms from the public, including non-governmental organizations, researchers and religious leaders, for rejecting the people's efforts to conduct a peaceful and fair election.

During their meeting on Tuesday, the KPU and the 24 parties contesting the election agreed only to recount votes in several areas to minimize possibilities of fraud.

Hari said even international observers had given credit to the people for the free, fair and peaceful legislative election.

"If foreigners can give us a thumbs-up, then our own people should have a better perspective," the minister said.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar underlined that legal measures would be taken against any and all parties trying to cause instability.

"I am not going to identify any specific groups, but as a law enforcer, I will definitely take action against anyone who threatens the country's security," Da'i said.

He denied he was sending a warning to opposition groups, saying he was merely calling on parties to reconsider any statements that could confuse the people.

"I respect their right to speak and voice their opinion, but they should not try to provoke people to join their movement," the four-star general said.

During the teleconference, Megawati also raised the issue of eligible voters who were not able to exercise their right to vote due to administrative shortcomings.

"Recalling that these same problems also occurred in the previous election, the government will open between April 25 and May 10 a new registration period for those who could not exercise their right to vote in the legislative election," she said.

Megawati stressed that the people's right to vote should be respected and that regional administrations should support the new registration period.