KIPP to open fund-raising bank account

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