Megawati's decision not to vote causes controversy

Megawati's decision not to vote causes controversy

JAKARTA (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri's decision not to vote in
the general election sparked mixed reactions from an
intellectual, religious leader and army general Saturday.

Sociologist Arief Budiman and Islamic preacher Yusuf Hasyim
said Megawati's decision was nothing to worry about while East
Java military chief Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo asked her supporters to
vote.

Megawati, the ousted chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic
Party, announced her non-voting stand last week, saying the May
29 election would be "unconstitutional" because the party was
represented by Soerjadi who deposed her in an illegal rebel
congress.

Megawati, daughter of Indonesia's founding father Sukarno,
called on her loyalists to listen to their conscience when they
exercise their political rights on election day.

Many of her loyalists in Surabaya have announced they would
follow suit.

Arief, a Salatiga-based sociology professor, and Yusuf of
the influential Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem organization, said
Megawati was only exercising her political right.

They said under the Indonesian legal system, voting in the
general election is not obligatory.

"I don't think she (Megawati) is confronting the government
with her stand," Arief told reporters in the Central Java town of
Salatiga.

Arief, known as a government critic, said the debate over
Megawati's stand showed that a political force outside the three
political parties was worth considering by the government.

He said the government should take Megawati into account
because she retains the majority of support, although she has
lost the government's favor as party leader.

If her supporters followed suit, Arief said, it was possible
Golput -- the non-voters group -- would increase the number of
voters this year by up to 20 percent.

Senior politician and leader of the Tebuireng Islamic boarding
school in Jombang, East Java, Kyai Yusuf, said as quoted by
Antara there was nothing to fear about Megawati's decision.

"As an ordinary citizen, she has the right to exercise or not
to exercise her political right. Voting in the election is not
obligatory," he said.

Law professor Muladi of the Semarang-based Diponegoro
University said to avoid complication, Megawati should have told
her loyalists it was up to them whether to vote or not to vote
without announcing her personal stand.

Muladi, who is also a member of the National Commission on
Human Rights, said she should not only consider her personal
interests but the nation's as a whole.

"She should have set aside all hard feelings when making the
announcement," Muladi told reporters in Semarang Saturday.

East Java's Brawijaya military chief Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo
called on Megawati supporters not to follow their leader's
stance.

"I can't coerce anyone to vote, but as a citizen please go to
the polling booth," Iman said.

"By voting, we would have our representatives in the House,
and so the nation's development will continue. By abstaining from
the election, we will not have representatives, and we will end
up having no say later in the course of our development," he was
quoted by Antara as saying in Surabaya Friday. (aan/har)