PPP may ignore poll rules

JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party (PPP) threatened over the weekend to ignore the government's election campaign rules unless they were revised.

PPP Chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum said the Moslem-oriented party could use any campaign method regardless of what the government dictated.

"We can apply another effective method, for instance door-to- door campaigning. There are many other possible methods that we can utilize," Ismail said yesterday at the conclusion of the party's three-day leaders meeting.

Ismail said the PPP's central board would further discuss whether the party would campaign according to the April 27 to May 23 schedule set by the government.

Seven PPP district branches in Central Java pledged last week to boycott the election campaign, saying it was too hard to follow the rules.

PPP will vie for seats in the House of Representatives against the ruling political organization Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

The government announced last December that electioneering could only be done through public assemblies, media broadcasts, leaflets, flyers and other printed matter.

Operational guidelines were issued last month by Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., Minister of Information Harmoko and National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo.

The PPP released a statement yesterday saying that some of the election campaign guidelines do not comply with higher laws, restrict public participation, offend the essence of campaigning and adversely affect all political groups, especially the PPP.

The party's objections included the government's monopoly to appoint "neutral" experts to guide broadcasted campaign messages.

"We will continue our struggle to urge the government to improve the election rules," Ismail said, adding that the party's central board had asked to meet Yogie and Dibyo.

The PDI announced earlier in its final pre-general election leadership meeting that it could not rely on traditional campaign methods and would look for other means.

Separately yesterday, thousands of PPP poured onto the streets of Yogyakarta in a peaceful rally, according to Antara.

Sporting green outfits, the party's color, and waving the party flags, the supporters, mostly youths, formed a procession about one kilometer long on the main streets of the ancient city.

Yesterday was the PPP's second mass procession this year, despite a ruling that the election contestants are prohibited from organizing street rallies in the run up to the general elections.

In January at least 5,000 people staged a similar rally on the streets of Jakarta to mark the party's 24th anniversary.

Safe election

Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung told the PPP leaders on Saturday that the campaign rules aimed to assure the election would run safely and smoothly, free of unforeseen chaos and accidents.

"There have been a lot of unnecessary deaths in previous general elections. This must not happen again," Feisal said.

Feisal said each political group could easily comply with the campaign rules, although he promised to deliver any complaints to the government.

Another PPP statement released yesterday criticized some government officials for overzealously supporting one political group.

"We have seen politicization of the bureaucracy and other conduct which does not distinguish official duties from efforts to lift a certain political group to victory," the party's secretary-general Tosari Wijaya said as he read the statement.

The statement was implicitly referring to Golkar, which is seeking its sixth consecutive landslide win since 1971.

Golkar won 68 percent of the vote from 88.9 million registered voters in the last election in 1992, while the PPP won 17 percent and the PDI 15 percent.

Civil servants and the Armed Forces are included in Golkar's "big family". Consequently, families of civil servants and members of the Armed Forces have to support Golkar.

Members of the Armed Forces do not vote, but are granted 75 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives. The 425 remaining seats are contested in the general election.

The PPP's statement asks the party's central board to accommodate any public aspirations on candidates for president and vice president for 1998 to 2003.

Ismail refused to disclose the names of any potential candidates raised during the leadership meeting, saying the central board would announce them in due course.

Many organizations, including some PDI branches, have aired their support for President Soeharto to run for another term. (amd)

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