Not voting would be sinful: Moslem group
Not voting would be sinful: Moslem group
JAKARTA (JP): Moslems, who constitute about 90 percent of the
Indonesian population, were urged yesterday to stay away from
campaigns to boycott the May 29 general election.
Religious leaders also advised Moslems to ignore calls to join
street demonstrations aimed at creating chaos with the eventual
purpose of derailing the election.
In the East Java town of Jember, Pembina Imam Tauhid Islam
(PITI), stated that not to vote in the upcoming election would be
sinful, according to Islamic teaching.
The Chairman of PITI, formerly the Association of Islamic
Chinese founded in 1964, Abdul Halim Muhammad Zein said the
organization was making it obligatory for its 8,500 members to
vote in the general election.
Chalid Mawardi, leader of Majelis Dakwah Islamiyah (MDI), said
some people had misused the democratization issue to promote
their individual political agendas through unruly means.
The interest groups, he said, wanted to disrupt the general
election and the 1998 presidential election and change the
Indonesian political system.
MDI, which is affiliated to the government-backed Golkar
political grouping, praised the authorities for clamping down on
people who sought to subvert the state through pamphlets and
books.
Chalid did not name the political agitators. Last week, the
government arrested the Indonesian Democratic Union Party leader,
Sri Bintang Pamungkas, and two of its senior activists. Also
questioned by government prosecutors was Subadio Sastrosatomo,
the writer of Soebadio Rejects the New Order Government's
Engineering which allegedly discredits the government and the
military.
A series of religious conflicts and anti-Chinese riots has
rocked Java over the past few months. At least 10 people were
killed, dozens of churches torched, hundreds of shops set on fire
and many police posts attacked.
In Bogor, West Java Governor R. Nuriana warned the public
Saturday of anonymous pamphlets being circulated instigating
people to boycott the general election.
Nuriana said the leaflets had been produced by irresponsible
people who wanted to see Indonesia fragmented by setting
different religious groups against each other.
Last week, the Bogor authorities seized 17 leaflets. One read,
"The election is not worth pursuing: Boycott it".
They summoned Hari Soba, an activist of the unrecognized
Independent election Monitoring Committee for questioning but he
refused to appear. (pan/24)