Poll campaign should educate people: Experts
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)