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)