KPU agrees to restart selection of interest groups

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)