High voter turnout not an obsession: Syarwan

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid promised on Wednesday the government would not resort to mobilizing people in an effort to maximize voter turnout in the June general election, Antara reported.

Success or failure of the polls could not simply be measured by the turnout rate, Syarwan told reporters.

"We have not set any target for voter participation," he said. "A 50 percent to 60 percent turnout is considered good enough. The real measure of an election's success is one in which people are not herded to go to the polling stations."

Past elections organized under the repressive regime of former president Soeharto boasted turnouts of more than 90 percent. The government was so obsessed with meeting its turnout goals that critics often played up the absenteeism rate as a rough indication of public discontent with the political system.

In the 1997 general election, about 90 percent of the 124 million registered voters cast their ballots.

In the new electoral law endorsed by the House of Representatives last week, voter registration is voluntary, compared to the previous system of door-to-door visits by government officials to register every eligible voter.

The government still considers its duty to encourage the people to exercise their democratic rights, Syarwan said.

"Political scientists say voter turnout cannot be used as a real measure of people's participation. It all depends on the election process. Mobilization is not the same as participation because you are actually herding people to vote," he said.

"A 90 percent turnout is meaningless if they are coerced to vote. It's unrealistic."

He noted the U.S. and other advanced countries recorded low voter turnouts.

Syarwan emphasized the need to hold an "honest and fair" election to put to rest doubts about the legitimacy of the elected government.

"If there is rigging, then the election cannot be expected to resolve this nation's problems," he said. "The election results will be rejected by the public, and the government and legislature formed by the election will be continually dogged by questions of legitimacy." (emb)