Next president 'to be installed on Nov. 10'

Next president 'to be installed on Nov. 10'

JAKARTA (JP): If all goes according to plan, Indonesia will
see its fourth president taking the oath of office on Nov. 10,
according to a senior Ministry of Home Affairs official.

"The plan is that on Nov. 10, coinciding with National Heroes'
Day, we will see the new president and vice president installed,"
Secretary-General Faisal Tamin disclosed during a meeting with
university students and rectors on Saturday.

The government has set the tentative date of Oct. 28, which is
Youth Pledge Day, for the start of the general session of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which will be formed after
the general election scheduled for June, Faisal said.

This is the first time the government has disclosed the
tentative dates for the general session of the MPR, which will
elect the country's president and vice president.

Faisal was speaking at the launching of the University Network
for a Free and Fair Election held at the University of Indonesia.
The network, which involves 14 private and state universities so
far, will be one of many watchdog organizations planning to
monitor the June general election.

MPR chairman Harmoko announced last week that the assembly and
the government had agreed to call for a general election on June
7, and for the resulting MPR to convene on Aug. 28 for the
swearing-in of the members and the establishment of a working
committee to prepare for the general session.

The question of when the new president will take over became
important after leading political opposition figures questioned
the long time gap between the general election in June and the
presidential election, which was originally planned for December.

They argued that this schedule would make the seating
president a lame duck leader.

Faisal said moving forward the presidential election date to
November appeared to be the maximum. The MPR working committee
must be given time to complete its job, which will include
drafting the Broad Outlines of State Policy.

"They (committee members) have only one-and-a-half months.
This is tough for such an important task," he said.

Faisal disclosed that there was a consensus among the four
factions represented in the House of Representatives that June 7,
which is a Monday, will be declared a public holiday.

The House is currently debating three political bills which
will be the foundations of Indonesia's new political system.

Faisal said even as the House was still debating the bill, the
government has begun preparations for the June election.

The government will begin registering the political parties
intending to contest the elections in January or February, he
said, noting that by Saturday, some 108 political parties had
registered their names with the ministry.

Voter registration would begin in March or April, he said,
adding that the total eligible voters is expected to be about 125
million, or 5 percent higher than in 1997.

The campaign period will probably last a month, and there are
now debates on whether a one-week "cooling off" period as in past
elections is necessary before balloting day, he said. (edt/emb)