Poll campaign should educate people: Experts

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Prominent political observers yesterday gathered here to discuss strategies for improving election campaigns so they educate rather than exploit people.

Koento Wibisono, Muladi, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Moh. A.S. Hikam and Riswandha Imawan were among the experts who spoke at the meeting was held by the National Council for Defense and Security.

The council was seeking ways to ensure that the general election, scheduled for May 1997, proceed successfully, orderly, safely and without unrest, said its secretary-general, Lt. Gen. (ret) Soekarto.

Community leaders, government officials and representatives from the political organizations contesting the election -- the ruling Golkar, the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP), and the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), attended the meeting.

Koento, former rector of state-run Sebelas Maret University in Surakarta, said past general elections have failed to politically educate people. "The next election should be an improvement, and it should enlighten the people," he said.

Participants agreed that outdoor campaign rallies should be limited and gradually replaced with campaigns which stress dialog between the contestants.

Muladi, rector of the Diponegoro University in Semarang, agreed that rallies in past elections had often turned violent and usually went hand-in-hand with cheating, manipulation and "political malpractice".

Constitutional law expert Yusril Ihza Mahendra agreed. There had been instances when members of the public had been subjected to rampant violations of good campaign ethics, and had suffered "political intimidation" by state officials.

"Even university lecturers who were appointed legislature candidates by PPP and PDI have been intimidated," he said.

Hikam, an Indonesian Institute of Sciences researcher, regretted that not all candidates reacted enthusiastically to the proposed changes to election campaigning.

Lawyer Nursyahbani Katjasungkana suggested that the term "dialogs" be defined clearly. "It shouldn't be a mere euphemism. For instance, the council is trying to replace the term mobilization of people, with public gathering. There's no real difference between the two terms," she said.

Riswandha, a Gadjah Mada University lecturer, focused his analysis on the meaning of "campaign". "To campaign is to convince people to join in something that we believe in. The current electioneering practice, where political contestants gather to their own supporters, is not actually campaigning," he said.

He supported the call for more dialogs, rather than outdoor rallies, in election campaigning. "Our people have become more critical," he said.

The government would find it difficult to replace the traditional outdoor rallies with dialogs, he said. "For the past 30 years, people have been made apolitical. Now they are told to take active part in election, how can that be?" he said.

President Soeharto called last month for new regulations on election campaigning to prevent the chaos and violence of past elections. He suggested that campaigns should no longer be staged as shows of strength.

Soeharto asked the National Council for Security and Defense to draft new regulations on campaigning for the 1997 general election. The council, made up of retired military officers, advises the President on state matters.

Earlier this month, the council suggested outdoor rallies be limited and convoys of political supporters on motorbikes or trucks be banned. Rallies should be replaced by public debates at sites appointed by political contestants and the General Elections Institute.

Electoral law restricts campaigning to a 25-day period. Next year campaigning is scheduled to begin on April 29 and end on May 23. There is normally a seven day cooling-off period before election day, which is scheduled for the end of next May.

The council has suggested the campaign period should last 27 days, with a cooling off period of five days. (30/swe)