Parties promise peaceful campaign period

Parties promise peaceful campaign period

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

All political parties contesting the elections pledged on Tuesday
to put aside their differences to promote a peaceful campaign
period from March 11 to April 1.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-
general Soetjipto, Crescent Star Party chairman Yusril Ihza
Mahendra and Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono were among the
top politicians issuing the joint declaration.

"We agree on a spirit of peace, as no party wants bloodshed
during the campaigns," Soetjipto told reporters after
the declaration was read at the General Elections Commission
(KPU) on Jl. Imam Bonjol, Central Jakarta.

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti, accompanied by KPU
members such as Chusnul Mar'iyah, Mulyana W. Kusumah and Daan
Dimara, hosted the joint declaration.

Representatives of 23 parties contesting the polls attended
the gathering, excluding the Indonesian Democratic Vanguard
Party.

Last October, supporters of PDI-P and Golkar clashed in Bali,
leaving two dead, after which leaders of the two parties met for
reconciliatory talks.

Electoral campaigns have usually caused the public to be wary,
as they tended to turn violent. The security fear was also felt
in the stock market, weakening the Jakarta index and the rupiah
rate against the greenback.

Noted poet Taufik Ismail, who attended Tuesday's gathering,
recalled the country's first election in 1955 as the most
peaceful.

Golkar's Agung said the campaigns would run peacefully, even
without such a declaration.

"No one here wants to win the election through inappropriate
means," he said.

Election Supervisory Committee member Topo Santoso
said the responsibility of conducting a peaceful campaign period
would rest not only with party leaders, but also party members.

"Party leaders will set a model. If they refrain from
violence, they will send a message of peace to their supporters,"
he said.

Earlier in the day, a group of Muslim leaders, organizations
and politicians called on the people to exercise their right to
vote and to maintain peace during the elections, while urging
people to vote for politicians with good track records.

"We all agree that the 2004 elections must be peaceful and
produce qualified leaders," Hussein Umar of the Indonesian
Council of Islamic Propagation said at Istiqlal Mosque.

Also present at the event were Islam Defenders Front chairman
Mohammad Rizieq Shihab, Reform Star Party chairman
Zainuddin MZ, Crescent Star Party deputy chairman Ahmad
Sumargono, Indonesian Ulemas Council deputy chairman Amidhan and
dangdut singer Rhoma Irama.

PDI-P legislator Arismunandar and Golkar legislator Tutty
Alawiyah were also present.

Zainuddin, also a renowned Muslim cleric, said the forum would
be maintained to discuss the nomination of a presidential
candidate, and hoped Islamic political parties would first
discuss their political goals together.

"In the next step, we hope the parties will come up with one
definite presidential candidate," he said Zainuddin.

Separately, KPU deputy secretary-general Sussongko Suhardjo
said that several ballot paper tender winners had quitted their
contracted task to print 75 million papers for the
regental/municipal legislative election.

"They have no capacity to complete the job by March 17," he
said.

He added that the KPU had appointed other companies to take
over the job, including Metro Pos, a winner of the tender to
print voter registration forms.