MPR session may be delayed: Habibie
JAKARTA (JP): With the General Elections Commission (KPU) deciding to delay announcing final poll results, President B.J. Habibie said on Friday subsequent stages of the June 7 general election, including the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), would likely be delayed by a month.
"Because the swearing in of new members of the House of Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly will likely be delayed from its original date of Aug. 29 to the end of September or the beginning of October, the MPR General Session will subsequently be delayed," the President said as quoted by Deputy House Speaker Abdul Gafur.
Speaking to the press after meeting with Habibie at Merdeka Palace, Gafur said the predicted delay of the General Session was based on the KPU's decision to postpone the announcement of poll results from July 7 to July 21.
He said the President, who is the ruling Golkar Party's presidential nominee, foresaw the presidential election being held in December.
Considering the time needed for the leaders of the 48 parties which contested the elections and the chairmen of all 27 provincial elections committees to come to Jakarta, the National Elections Committee (PPI) announced on Friday the national vote count would begin next Tuesday.
"We have to make sure that all party leaders and the chairmen of all 27 provincial elections committees will be here to attend the PPI plenary meeting and witness the start of the national vote count next Tuesday," PPI chairman Jacob Tobing announced.
With the Wednesday deadline to announce and ratify the poll results looming, the KPU agreed on Thursday to allow the PPI to begin the national vote count after 10 days of uncertainty.
A KPU regulation stipulates that the national vote count should have begun on June 21.
While it remained unconfirmed that all official poll results already received by the committee had been cleared of fraud charges, Tobing said the PPI had received the recapitulated poll results from 16 provinces.
The provinces which have submitted their results are Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu, Lampung, West Java, Yogyakarta, Central Java, East Java, Bali, East Timor, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi and Irian Jaya.
Tobing said provincial elections committees still had the opportunity to rehold polls before the Monday deadline.
He said polls would be reheld in Pasaman regency in West Sumatra, Bitung mayoralty in North Sulawesi, Bolaang Mongondouw in North Sulawesi and Alor in East Nusa Tenggara.
TNI's neutrality
Also on Friday, Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto said the military would maintain its distance from all political parties which contested the June 7 elections, but would play an active role in the presidential election.
"TNI will maintain its neutrality, but at the same time will also exercise its voting rights in the General Session of the MPR, including the presidential election," he said during a hearing with House Commission I for security and defense, law, politics and information.
He said the military and the National Police would be proactive in seeking solutions to a possible deadlock in the presidential election.
Several political observers and leading political parties, including Golkar Party, have called on the military not to vote in the presidential election to ensure its political neutrality.
Separately, eight Muslim-based political parties said they would not endorse the final poll results unless the police immediately opened an investigation into electoral law violations allegedly committed by Tobing.
Representatives of the United Development Party (PPP), the Justice Party (PK), the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Nahdlatul Ummat Party (PNU), the Islamic Community Party (PUI), the Indonesian United Islam Party 1905 (PSII-1905), the Indonesian Masyumi Islamic Political Party (PPIM) and the Muslim Community Awakening Party (PKU) lodged a complaint against Tobing at National Police Headquarters.
"We'll wait until July 8 and if the police do not follow up on our report, none of us will sign the final poll results," PPIM chairman Abdullah Hehamahua said after meeting with the chief of the National Police's intelligence directorate, Brig. Gen. Subono Adi.
The party representatives believe Tobing bypassed regulations governing vote-sharing agreements among political parties when he approved a vote-sharing deal made by 10 parties.
Abdullah said the vote-sharing agreement was not signed by authorized party officials and it was submitted after the May 31 deadline for such agreements.
As of 8:30 p.m. on Friday, based on the KPU's provisional vote count, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) remained in the lead with 23.4 million votes. In second position was Golkar Party with 12.46 million votes, followed by the National Awakening Party (PKB) with 11.2 million votes.(rms/prb/emf/imn/amd)