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)