Political parties spell out wishes for coming election

YOGYAKARTA (JP): In apparent concern for possible outbreaks of violence, political parties attending a discussion here on Sunday called for the ban of mass street campaigns in next year's elections.

Delegates of 79 parties present at the two-day talks on elections held by Gadjah Mada University (UGM) here said they wanted "more mature" elections.

They also urged that the government remain facilitator in the conducting of the polls; that there would be no more screening of party candidates and no more banning of parties by the government as in the past. The recommendations and notes from the forum, which were not made into a concluding statement, organizers said, were to be conveyed by organizers to the House of Representatives where the bill on elections is being deliberated to Jan. 28.

UGM political lecturer Riswandha Imawan suggested campaigning on campus grounds by parties as an alternative for next year's elections. Last year "in-door campaigns" were conducted, but supporters still spilled out onto the streets during the campaign period.

Although current deliberations of the government-sponsored law on elections at the House have been declared open to observers, the dialog at UGM was held because of the lack of an adequate forum for political parties. Among the main parties, the United Development Party was absent.

Another UGM political lecturer and organizer of the talks, Mohtar Mas'oed, said the parties also called for an easing of the qualifications political parties must meet to be eligible for the poll. Among other things, they want to eliminate the electoral law that requires a party to have branches in at least half of the country's provinces.

They also reiterated demands for the cancellation of an article in the government-sponsored bill that requires one million signatures for a party to be eligible to contest the elections if they fail to establish the required number of branches.

The bill on elections, together with the bill on political parties and the status of the People's Consultative Assembly, have been slated for passage next month.

During last week's deliberations, the government indicated a willingness to reconsider the requirement for one million signatures. On the number of branches, the government has argued that the requirement was needed to teach parties to take politics seriously.

"Democracy is not cheap ... we must be willing to pay a price for it," Ryaas Rasyid, the head of the government team that drafted the three political bills, said last week during a deliberation on the bills with the House.

The dialog at UGM was marked by the walk-out of the relatively radical People's Democratic Party (PRD), which, in 1994, was the first party to be established outside of the three government- recognized political parties. PRD's Faisol Reza had urged that the dialog touch on issues such as the representation of the Armed Forces in the House, but his idea was rejected. A planned meeting with student delegates of 30 universities who wanted to convey their message was canceled.

The students' who gathered in the nearby Kaliurang resort appealed that the parties prioritize the achievement of a fair, free and just elections, and "save the elections from anarchy".

The students were from Bandung, Jakarta, Bali, Pontianak and other towns in Java. Their spokesman, Subiantoro of UGM, said, "We demand that leaders of all parties secure their constituents during the electoral process. If a party is not able to do this, it should be dissolved."

At UGM, Rector Ichlasul Amal said on the sidelines of the parties' discussion that the university will help students who want to be election monitoring volunteers in next year's poll by incorporating such activities in their study programs.

Monitoring elections would be considered an alternative to the compulsory field training course, Ichlasul said. The courses include community service.

On Saturday, 14 universities said they would join a university network to monitor elections. (23/44/swa)