PDI won't boycott 1997 elections

PDI won't boycott 1997 elections

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) will not
boycott the general election in 1997, despite sharing the
grievances expressed by the United Development Party (PPP), some
branches of which have threatened to boycott the election.

"The PDI will take part in the election no matter what happens
and I don't think I need to say more than that," PDI chairwoman
Megawati Soekarnoputri said yesterday in Bandar Lampung, Lampung,
as quoted by Antara.

Megawati was commenting on the threat made by five provincial
branches of the PPP this week that they will boycott the election
unless the government guarantees that the polls will be conducted
in a fair and just manner.

Leaders of the PPP's branches in Aceh, Bengkulu, Jakarta, South
Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan -- all solid PPP bases --
announced their position during a party leadership meeting near
Jakarta.

The PPP and the PDI have complained that the election
regulations and procedures have been designed to ensure that
Golkar wins the election by a wide margin. In 1992, Golkar took
68 percent of the votes, the PPP 17 percent and the PDI 15
percent.

At the end of the meeting on Wednesday, PPP leaders reiterated
their demand for a clean and fair election and demanded that the
government punish those who break the laws.

Meanwhile, a political analyst and former leader of Golkar's
Central Java branch, said yesterday that the government should
heed the boycott threat, given that it comes from strong PPP
branches.

Soehardjo, a constitutional law expert at Diponegoro
University in Semarang, Central Java, told Antara that the
government should make the effort necessary to ensure a clean and
fair election.

Soehardjo said complaints from the minority parties about the
way past elections have been conducted were to be expected. "It's
part of a dynamic political development, especially with an
election year approaching. But still, the government should
reflect on their complaints," he said.

He also urged the government to take notice of another
complaint made by PPP leaders during their recent meeting: that
one of the three organizations set to contest the election had
been mobilizing civil servants and school pupils for its
political gatherings, called "cadres meetings".

While the PPP was careful not to name any party, its remark
was widely understood to refer to Golkar. (emb)