KIPP to open fund-raising bank account

JAKARTA (JP): The newly established independent poll watchdog plans to open a bank account as part of its efforts to raise funds to finance its activities nationwide.

Secretary-general of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP) Mulyana W. Kusumah made the announcement yesterday during a discussion on election supervision and democratization.

"We expect help from everybody in financing our activities," he said at the Center for Policy and Development Studies, a newly-established, politically well-connected think-tank.

"We don't have money to finance our activities now. When we hold an activity we will have to collect money from our members," he said, adding that donations from the public are also welcome.

Mulyana said that no foreign funding had been received. "We haven't even made contact with any foreign funding agencies," he said.

One of the participants in the discussion, Lukman Harun of the Muhammadiyah Moslem organization, asked Mulyana about how the committee plans to fund its supervision activities for the 1997 general election.

Lukman asked if the independent body had received funds from foreign bodies and, if so, if it could still be called independent.

The poll watchdog was established earlier last month by vocal government critics and rights activists. The government and the Armed Forces have not recognized its existence and continue to observe the committee with caution.

The discussion was also attended by chairman of the center Din Syamsudin, political observers Afan Gaffar and Fachry Ali, assistant to the Armed Forces Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Maj. Gen. Suwarno Adiwijoyo, and noted human rights lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution.

Afan asked how the poll watchdog would monitor the more than 320,000 polling booths in the country, the actual process of ballot casting, and other stages in the election.

"Are you ready to monitor the voting activities in remote areas outside Java?" he asked.

Mulyana conceded that due to the enormity of the task, the poll body would only monitor certain polling booths, the results from which the committee could use as a representative sampling. He said the activists also plan to rely on contact persons to report any violations during the voting process.

He said the founders of the body realize their limitations and have not set their goals too high for the upcoming election.

"At least the body will serve as a moral and political force, instilling the ideas of how general elections should be conducted," he said.

Meanwhile, Muhammadiyah chairman Amien Rais called on the government not to label the poll watchdog as an opposition group.

"The government should see the body as a partner of the official Election Supervision Committee," he told The Jakarta Post yesterday in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi.

However, he called on the poll watchdog not to downplay its political overtones.

"Let's be honest, the KIPP is a political movement because it will act as a player in the 1997 general election," he said.

Support

Meanwhile, dozens of student activists marched to the House of Representatives yesterday to express support for the independent poll body.

Calling themselves the New Indonesia Foundation (YIB), the group of nearly 40 students gathered at the House lobby, unfurling banners and waving placards. Some of the posters read: "Don't let the people become victims of the elections."

The students were met by members of the United Development Party (PPP) faction.

"YIB supports the independent election watch committee, and feels its existence to be necessary," said the foundation's chairman Bob Randilawe.

After a two-hour wait, representatives from the Foundation were met by PPP faction vice chairman Jusuf Syakir and his colleagues Asrori Saleh and Shaleh Khalid.

Their plans to meet with the members from the other three factions failed because the House was still in recess.

In its statement, the Foundation called on the government to promote a culture of dialog by allowing political parties to engage in debates.

"The security approach has to be replaced by a welfare oriented approach...Solutions through coercion have to be avoided because they are contrary to the eastern culture we subscribe to," said the statement.

The Foundation further stated that it opposes any attempts to hinder the strengthening of civil society.

They added that a vocal public and criticism of government policies must be allowed in order to achieve a just and prosperous democratic society. (mds/20/imn)

Editorial -- Page 4