JP/4/scen-10

JP/4/scen-10

NU to hold mass prayer in March

SURABAYA, East Java: The largest Muslim organization in
Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), is planning to hold a mass
gathering in this province in March, and has called upon people
to repent and to pray for the nation's safety from disasters.

Organizing committee chairman Sholeh Hayat said on Sunday that
participants would come from Surabaya and the nearby cities of
Mojokerto, Gresik, Lamongan, Sidoarjo, Pasuruan and Bangil.

The mass gathering would be held not only to pray for the
state, but also to pray for the people's prosperity and safety,
he added.

A number of senior Muslim clerics are scheduled to attend the
gathering, including Abdullah Faqih from Tuban, Idris Marzuki of
Lirboyo in Kediri, and Sahal Mahfudz, a senior executive of NU.

Separately, NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said that several
ambassadors from countries in the Middle East and Europe had also
been invited to the gathering. -- Antara

Golkar teaches cadres in Papua

JAYAPURA, Papua: Despite the internal rift in its executive
board, activities of the Golkar Party remain undisturbed, as
evidenced by the training it has carried out in order to prepare
cadres in Papua for the 2004 general elections.

A number of 131 cadres from 28 regencies and 14 new regencies
throughout Papua participated in a party training workshop in
Jayapura from Feb. 2 to 6.

Jan L. Ayomi, director of the party's training unit in the
province, said on Saturday that the activity had been organized
to help the province recruit more qualified human resources.

It was also aimed at increasing the number of voters for the
2004 elections, Ayomi added.

In the 1999 general elections, Golkar gained 54 percent of
votes in Papua, the highest among other political parties. The
party has targeted to increase their ballots by up to 65 percent
in the 2004 elections.

In his speech, Golkar chairman Jhon Ibo urged cadres to always
focus on the people's aspirations and to uphold national unity.
-- Antara

'More nonvoters in next elections'

SEMARANG, Central Java: Sociologist Arief Budiman predicted
that the number of people who would not apply their right to vote
in the 2004 elections would rise by up to 15 percent.

Arief said the people who would prefer not to vote would be
those who had voted for Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) in 1999.

He added that these people had been disappointed with the
performance of the party, once considered a party that always
fought for the common people.

"Neither would the people vote for Golkar, because of the
past. As being a nonvoter has become an alternative, they will
choose not to vote," said Arief, a professor at the University of
Melbourne, here on Saturday.

Arief had introduced the nonvoter option in 1971 during an
engineered election organized by then-president Soeharto.

In past elections, the number of nonvoters was less than 12
percent of those who voted. -- Antara

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Scene-bills
Two labor bills to be endorsed on Feb. 25
JP/4/SCENE

Two labor bills to be endorsed on Feb. 25

SURABAYA: The two labor bills being deliberated by the House
of Representatives have been scheduled to be endorsed during the
plenary session on Feb. 25.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said
on Saturday in Surabaya that all arrangements and repairs had
been made to the last draft.

"I do not see any reasons for a rejection, so I will urge the
House of Representatives to pass the bills by the deadline," the
minister said.

Both employers and labor unions have settled a number of
contentious chapters, including those on industrial strikes, on
multiple payments and outsourcing, in a four-month discussion
held after the endorsement of the bill was delayed last November.

Jacob contended that the House had conducted a series of
discussions with workers unions to ensure that neither bill would
make them suffer, so there should be no more problems.

"The House has met these unions in the past four months, so we
are going to finalize the bills and deliberate them as
scheduled," he added.

About 22 workers unions rejected the bills, saying that it
violated workers' rights. The contentious issues included
protection for women and child workers, strikes and severance
pay. -- Antara