PPP may ignore poll rules

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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