KPU gives parties second chance to approve polls

KPU gives parties second chance to approve polls

JAKARTA (JP): The General Election Commission (KPU) gave the
27 political parties which rejected the election results on
Monday one week to reconsider their decision.

"It is not an ultimatum, but it will be too late for the
parties to change their mind if they do it after the President
approves the election results next week," commission chairman
Rudini said, after leading a plenary session on Tuesday.

Rudini said the commission decided at the plenary session that
it would welcome the parties to retract and accept the election
results.

He said he believed many among the 27 parties did not actually
reject the election results but were unable to endorse the final
vote count until the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu)
processed violations that were prevalent in the run-up to and
during the June 7 poll.

At least ten of the 27 protesting parties have said they were
ready to endorse the election results in principle, provided the
commission noted the violations rather than simply brushing them
away and declaring the poll fair and free.

Among the ten parties were the Justice Party (PK), Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI), MKGR Party, All-Indonesian Workers
Solidarity Party (PSPSI) and Indonesian Nation's National Party
(PNBI).

Rasjidi, the PSPSI representative in the elections commission,
denied rumors the minority parties rejected the election results
in a bid to gain leverage in their political bargaining with the
government.

"PSPSI will certainly sign the election results after the
election is considered fair and free by the election supervisory
committee," he said.

Speculation was rife among commission members that the
minority parties plotted to reject the election results in order
to pressure the government into granting them seats at the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and allowing them to contend
the next elections in 2004.

According to the 1999 General Election Law, parties which
failed to get two percent of seats at the next House would not be
permitted to contest the next elections.

Mustafa Kamal, the PK representative in the commission, said
his party, which was expected to grab ten seats at the next
House, refused to sign the election results in protest over
violations that were not handled properly.

"We want all violations committed by the big and small parties
to be investigated," he said.

Mulyana W. Kusumah, a member of the election supervisory
committee, said his committee expected to be able to investigate
in a week the reported violations which the 27 parties cited as
reasons for their refusal.

"We will start our work tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said.

Meanwhile, the Independent Election Monitoring Committee
(KIPP) said despite violations and technical irregularities, the
recent elections and its results remained valid.

The organization criticized KPU for its display of poor
understanding of the election law and for ignoring the election
supervisory committee's authority in evaluating the elections.

According to the law, before being handed over to the
President, KPU should ask Panwaslu to verify the parties' reasons
to reject the election results.

KIPP said the minority parties' win of 6.38 percent of the
vote was not significant enough to justify the commission's
decision to defer the final say to President B.J. Habibie.

Separately, Sri-Edi Swasono, a member of the National Front
group of government critics, called on the election supervisory
committee to hold a dialog with KPU and political parties to make
a new agreement in line with the election results.

Arbi Sanit, a political expert at the University of Indonesia,
criticized the minority parties' refusal as groundless.

"The violations were not significant because they affected
only two percent of 130 million votes," he said.

Indria Samego, a political observer of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI), hailed the President's decision to
ask the supervisory committee to verify the minority parties'
reasons.

Ichlasul Amal, rector of the Gadjah Mada University in
Yogyakarta, also regretted the minority parties' rejection of the
poll results. He said it was not a wise decision, as it would
also adversely affect their fate in the next elections.

He also deplored Rudini's decision to also reject the poll
results, saying the chairman should show loyalty toward the
interests of the people rather than only toward the election
commission. (05/44/rms/swa)