People urged to ignore calls for poll boycott
People urged to ignore calls for poll boycott
SEMARANG (JP): The campaign against abstaining in the May 29
general election is intensifying, with a Moslem leader and a
human rights figure being the latest figures urging people to
vote.
Muladi, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights,
asked the public yesterday to ignore suggestions to boycott the
election.
"As good citizens none of us should join the poll boycotters,
although to some extent we might feel dissatisfaction with the
election," said Muladi, also rector of the state-run Diponegoro
University here.
He did not refer to anyone in particular but the government is
mounting a campaign against groups who have called for an
election boycott. Security authorities in several provinces have
seized anonymous leaflets encouraging people to boycott the
election.
"To err is human, and so is the government. But no government
intends to destroy its own state," Muladi said.
President Soeharto joined the election boycott debate on his
visit to Aceh Thursday. He said that anybody was entitled not to
vote but the abstainers, better known as the 'white group', could
not later file complaints about the election outcome.
Soeharto also warned that those who incited others not to vote
would face punitive measures.
Election participation in Indonesia has always exceeded 90
percent since 1971. Analysts estimated that one million people
did not vote five years ago.
A recent survey by the Indonesian National Youth Committee in
Malang, East Java, revealed that 85 percent of youths in the area
would not vote in the coming election.
Muladi agreed with Soeharto, saying that citizens had the
right not to vote. "But encouraging others to skip voting is a
serious violation of the election laws and could be described as
subversion," he said.
Sacked legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas, who established the
unrecognized Indonesian Democratic Union Party last year, is
currently being prosecuted under the 1963 Subversion Law for
distributing Idul Fitri greeting cards containing a call to
boycott the election.
Amien Rais, chairman of the 28 million-strong Muhammadiyah,
urged members in Surabaya to exercise their right to vote.
"Whatever people think of the election rules, they should not
breach the 1945 Constitution. Taking part in the election means
that we follow the Constitution," he said.
Amien, who hit the headlines when he resigned from an
influential post in the Association of Indonesian Moslem
Intellectuals recently, said Thursday the upcoming election's
possible shortcomings should not be used as an excuse not to
vote.
Abdurrachman Wahid, chairman of the country's largest Moslem
organization Nahdlatul Ulama, urged his supporters Wednesday to
take part in the election, saying that the five-yearly poll was
of supreme national interest.
"A person who ignores the election would not meet the
standards of being a good citizen and Moslem," he said.
(har/nur/amd)