NGOs can help monitor polls

NGOs can help monitor polls

JAKARTA (JP): The government yesterday displayed efforts to hold a fair general election in 1997 by asking officials of the election monitoring committee not to campaign for any contestants.

Head of the newly-established National General Elections Monitoring Committee Singgih called on committee members not to be partisan during the election.

"How can a member monitor the general elections objectively if he also campaigns for his party?" Singgih said in a preliminary meeting with committee members.

The monitoring committee for general elections is manned by top government officials as well as representatives of the three political contestants -- the ruling Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

In the past general elections, most of the government officials also campaigned for Golkar.

In another part of his address, Singgih said that non- governmental and independent organizations can help the official committee in monitoring all stages of the general elections.

"Any non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can help monitor all stages of the 1997 general elections," Singgih said.

Singgih, who is also the Attorney General, pointed out that only the official committee, installed by President Soeharto in December, has the authority to take action against violators.

Among the 16 members of the committee are Lt. Gen. Mohamad Ma'ruf and Maj. Gen. Arie J. Kumaat from the Armed Forces (ABRI), and Abdul Gafur and Agung Laksono from Golkar.

Others include Yudo Paripurno and Tosari Widjaja of the PPP, Panangian Siregar and Ismunandar of the PDI, and A. Hamid Effendi and Suko Martono from the government.

Singgih's remarks came after a number of NGOs and legal aid institutes established an independent poll monitoring committee in Bandung last week.

The committee, made up of student activists, youths and public figures, vowed to independently monitor all stages of the general elections, from the registration procedure to the final ballot counting.

Committee

One of the founders of the committee, Effendi Saman, had said an independent committee was needed because past elections were all marred by fraud, particularly during the ballot counting process.

The independent committee claimed that it will take both legal and political action if violations still occur in the 1997 general elections.

Saman said the activists would establish similar committees across the country.

Singgih said that independent committees could hold its own monitoring activities, but would not be able to interfere with the formal committee's policy and programs.

"We will accept all the input from the NGOs and the public regarding violations in the general elections," he said.

He also declined accusations that reports of violation and manipulation during the previous general elections were not followed up with legal actions.

"All of the dossiers on violation and manipulation have been submitted to the police," he said.

Singgih disclosed that all of the three contestants committed either traffic or disciplinary violations during the 1992 general elections.

He said that PPP with 1,241 campaign rallies committed 183 violations, Golkar in its' 3,628 campaign rallies committed 107 violations, and PDI committed 213 violations in its' 893 rallies. (imn)