Internal dispute not to affect PDI poll vote
JAKARTA (JP): The government will not let the continuing conflict in the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) affect the party's performance in the May 29 election, an observer said yesterday.
Cornelis LAY told The Jakarta Post that the government would seek every avenue to help the Soerjadi-led PDI maintain its performance in 1992.
Government intervention, he said, would prove wrong the common theory that the rift-ridden party would suffer vote drain because of the government-supported overthrow of the party's popular leader Megawati Soekarnoputri last year.
"The government-recognized PDI may fail to meet its vote target only in several provinces whose open support for Megawati has been widely covered by the media," Cornelis of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University said.
He predicted that the PDI's gains would fall in Central Java, East Java and Bali, but the government would help improve the situation by "producing a remarkable increase in other provinces", to show that Megawati's persistent challenge is not serious.
"Vote earning in the general election here never reflects real support (for a certain political group) by the public, but political negotiations," he said.
He said the government "granted" PDI a drastic rise in the number of seats at the House of Representatives in 1987, only to meet the requirement of the House internal rules. The rules stipulate that every House commission should comprise representatives of all the three political groups.
Cornelis also doubted that the May 29 polls would be free from vote rigging because the government would maintain its control of ballot counting.
The dominant Golkar, PDI and the United Development Party will vie for 425 of 500 House seats in the upcoming general election.
Megawati, the eldest daughter of first president Sukarno, is believed to have millions of grassroot supporters.
She has yet to decide on which party her supporters will channel their political aspirations. But loyal Megawati supporter Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno said Megawati would not force her supporters to use their right to vote.
The government only recognizes the PDI's list of legislative candidates submitted by Soerjadi. It excluded Megawati and her loyalists.
Cultural
Cornelis said the government would prove that Megawati's influence was limited because the general election is a cultural, not a political, event.
"If the poll serves well as a true political mechanism, Soerjadi would probably gain no single seat in the House," said Cornelis.
He said the PDI leadership under Soerjadi had trouble selecting its legislative candidates because they lacked support from the grassroots.
"Voices from the grassroots are deemed a challenge to the government, hence they will be left unheeded," Cornelis added.
The government would do everything to make the election a success, and therefore non-participation is intolerable, he said.
Each of the previous five general elections exceeded 90 percent of registered voters.
"The poll boycott issue is not that serious because it has circulated only around certain groups in cities and among students. But it has received full attention from the government who believe that it will tarnish the election," he said.
The latest survey conducted at the Gadjah Mada University revealed that 36.6 percent of 500 respondents would shun the poll. Another 11 percent have not yet registered, while 28 percent of the respondents said they were doubtful about whether they would vote or not.
According to a previous finding by a Malang, East Java youth organization, KNPI, 85 percent of local students would abstain Internal dispute not to affect PDI poll votefrom the election. (amd)