KPU agrees to restart selection of interest groups
JAKARTA (JP): A group of around 200 students rallied outside the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Monday, demanding the disbandment of its Team of 15, whose members have been suspected of abusing their authority in the selection of interest group representatives for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
The rally was held as disagreements among members forced the commission to start from scratch again and discuss common criteria to determine which interest groups should be represented in the MPR.
The students brought a white goat, with the word "KPU" painted on it, in their protest. They killed the goat and presented its head at the table of commission chairman Rudini.
The students chanted their demand that the Team of 15, tasked with the selection of the 65 representatives of the interest groups, be dissolved as it had lost its credibility.
"Stab Agus Miftah to death," several protesters cried several times, referring to the KPU representative of the Indonesian People's Economic Party (Pari) who is the spokesman for the Team of 15.
The students also demanded that Rudini establish an independent team to take over the tasks of the Team of 15. They recommended independent figures including Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid and Catholic priest Franz-Magnis Suseno to lead the team.
Several hours later, around 60 disabled people also held a peaceful demonstration in front of the KPU office, demanding that at least five, rather than the current two, seats at the People's Consultative Assembly be allocated for the millions of people in the Association of Indonesian Disabled People.
They said they were a vulnerable and marginalized group whose aspirations had not been channeled, either through political parties or the Assembly, the highest legislative body.
The two groups of demonstrators dispersed peacefully after Rudini received them.
Rudini said the controversy over the recommendations of the Team of 15 forced the commission to again discuss criteria for the 65 interest group representatives.
He acknowledged that a number of the 65 organizations named by the Team of 15 were closely affiliated to the ruling Golkar Party and to a member of the Team of 15.
He cited as examples Majelis Taklim, chaired by Minister of Social Affairs Toeti Alawiyah, the Indonesian Youths Committee (KNPI), Indonesian Cooperation Council (Dekopin), Village Cooperatives Association (Inkud) and the BLBI environmental forum that Agus Miftah chairs.
Rudini said the commission members were also divided over whether Muhammadiyah and Nadhlatul Ulama, the two largest Muslim organizations in the country, should be represented in the Assembly, since their political aspirations had been channeled through the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Rudini pledged fairness and transparency in the selection, scheduled to be completed in the middle of September.
Commission member Midian Sirait said that besides seeking power, many organizations had proposed their candidates for the MPR interest group because they wanted to see Golkar's candidate B.J. Habibie win the presidential election.
He also said several KPU members were against the Council of Buddhist Communities chairwoman Siti Hartati Murdaya representing the community in the MPR, because she is closely linked to the present ruler.
The Indonesian Hindu Dharma Council announced on Monday in Denpasar, Bali, that it had agreed to send Gedong Bagoes Oka, a religious figure known for her dedication to the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, as its sole representative in the next MPR.
All relative
Meanwhile, the official Election Supervisory Committee said on Monday that the June elections were "relatively free and fair", citing some irregularities that have yet to be resolved.
The committee, however, said the poll irregularities were not systematic and "could still be tolerated".
"The irregularities have, are and will be taken care of by the law enforcers and these should be taken as a lesson to improve the quality of the next election," committee member Ramlan Surbakti told a media conference.
Ramlan also said that President B.J. Habibie's decree last week validating the poll results "should be considered as a collective validation that the election was relatively free and fair".
Some 27 minority parties in Bandung, West Java, protested the West Java provincial election committee's decision to endorse the election results in the province, saying it had ignored the KPU's ruling on stembus akoord, or vote pooling deals.
The parties said that if the provincial elections committee complied with the deals arranged among some parties, they could get 10 additional seats in the House of Representatives. (43/50/rms/byg)