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)