Megawati urges peaceful elections

Megawati urges peaceful elections

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

President Megawati Soekarnoputri called on the Indonesian
community here on Sunday to hold the first direct presidential
election in 2004 peacefully, to show the country's commitment to
nurturing democracy and reform.

She said that, after having survived the first democratic
elections in 1999, Indonesia must be able to maintain peace in
the 2004 elections.

"We have been preparing all matters necessary for the
elections and everything has been agreed upon by the country, so
we all have to agree that the upcoming elections must proceed
peacefully as it did in 1999," Megawati said.

She acknowledged that the next elections would be very
difficult in regards the procedures, but these would ensure the
fulfillment of the people's aspiration to choose their own
representatives and president freely.

"In the upcoming election, we will have to go through series
of steps from the elections of regional legislative council
members and members of the House of Representatives, as well as
the president and the vice president," Megawati said.

"Hopefully, in the 2004 elections we can once again prove that
we are consistent in fulfilling our democratization process and
reform movement," she underlined.

Megawati's statement came after the House passed the election
bill into law, after having settled several contentious issues in
the draft law, including allowing state officials to campaign in
the next polls.

Megawati, who also chairs the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which won in the 1999 elections, would
contest the 2004 direct presidential election against her
challengers, like Amien Rais.

More than 230 political parties have registered to contest in
the 2004 elections, but politicians wanted less than 10 parties
to take part in the polls.

However, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
Mahendra said that so far, only eight political parties had re-
registered with his office.

He said there would be around 130 million voters spread out
through the 30 provinces and 370 regencies in Indonesia.

"That is a lot of people, and we have to register them
starting mid-2003. But with the preparations that we have been
making, we hope to see a successful election to establish a new
government until 2009," Megawati said.