'PDI won't expect much from election'

JAKARTA (JP): Legal barriers have forced the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) to throw in the towel before contesting the May 29 general election, a member of the party said yesterday.

Budi Hardjono, a supporter of the government-recognized Soerjadi-led PDI, complained yesterday the new election rules would hamper the party from making a full use of the period allotted for campaigning between April 29 to May 23.

"It will be hard for us to perform even as well as we did five years ago," Budi said. "Rallies are the best tool for encouraging the masses to make their choice," he added.

The party would not expect too much from the upcoming election but would continue the consolidation of cadres, preparing controlling measures for the election day and intensifying internal communication prior to the election, according to Budi.

The PDI, the United Development Party (PPP) and the ruling political grouping Golkar will be vying for 425 seats in the House of Representatives.

The PDI, regularly bottom-place in the last four elections, enjoyed a slight increase by winning 15 percent of the vote in 1992. The PPP gained 16 percent of the ballot. Golkar scored its fifth straight unanimous victory with 68 percent, but lost 17 seats.

Budi said the government had suffered a setback after issuing election rules unfavorable to the contesting parties.

The rules allocate time for each competitor to expand its campaign range to villages. Past general elections allowed campaigning only in the capital cities of Indonesia's 27 provinces and 241 regencies.

But the campaign schedule obliges the three parties to campaign in pre-designated areas, sometimes in two far-distant towns on the same day. In the last election, the government let each party arrange their own schedule.

"In reality, we will have only nine days to hold rallies due to the scheduling, unless we have enough funds to speed up our mobility," Budi said.

A similar complaint had been raised by PPP secretary-general Tosari Wijaya who said the party might withdraw from the election. PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum said Tuesday the party would announce its official stance on the new rules after a leadership meeting early in March.

Budi said that despite the fact that the new rules would affect all three contestants, only one would survive.

"We are preparing for a tough job while we are facing internal problems. To make matters worse, a certain competitor is unfairly provided with facilities," he said.

Commenting on the complaint, Director General for Social and Political Affairs Sutoyo N.K. said yesterday each competitor would cope if they prepared well for the election.

Asked about the financial shortage, Sutoyo said the government would take it into consideration.

He also asked PPP not to worry about its limited campaigning resources, saying each contestant was allowed to use state-owned television TVRI and state-owned radio RRI to broadcast programs to remote areas.

Sutoyo said the government would not take punitive measures against any party which failed to complete the campaigning schedule.

"A rally will depend on a party's capability. They don't have to do it if they cannot manage it," he said. (imn/amd)