Lawyer strongly criticizes independent poll watchdog

Lawyer strongly criticizes independent poll watchdog

JAKARTA (JP): A lawyer accused the unrecognized Independent
Election Monitoring Committee yesterday of having no clear-cut
working programs for its activists in the provinces.

Ridarson Galingging, the Legal Aid Institute's director for
civil and political rights, said that many committee activists in
the provinces almost buckle under government pressure.

The activists have few activities because they are disoriented
about what they are supposed to do, said Galingging, who had just
returned from observing committee activities in some provinces.

"Some are pessimistic about the effectiveness of the committee
after realizing that the government refused to recognize the poll
watchdog," Ridarson said.

In Medan, North Sumatra, activists felt uneasy after being
intimidated by plainclothes security officers, he said.

"About 30 security officers once sneaked into a conference
room. They sat there listening and doing nothing, just to show
their presence," he said.

In Ujungpandang, authorities pressured the management of a
hotel into canceling the reservations of activists planning to
meet there, he said.

Ridarson accompanied two Thai poll watchdog members who
visited Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Ujungpandang and Medan
where they shared their experiences as election monitors.

Apart from reacting to government pressure, the independent
committee, under the leadership of Goenawan Mohamad, does not
seem to have clear agenda.

Committee chairman Goenawan Mohamad had said that each poll
watchdog branch in the provinces is an independent unit and that
there is no chain of command.

Ridarson proposed that the committee sue officials it found
rigging next year's election and not simply monitor the
proceedings.

He also questioned the committee's call on the government last
week to cancel the 1997 general election on the grounds that the
process leading up to it was "legally defective".

"The demand is just too much. A poll watchdog's job is to
monitor the election and educate the public on politics," he
said. (16)