PPP warns of unfair election
PPP warns of unfair election
JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party (PPP) warned
yesterday that an unfair general election next May could easily
trigger riots, given the public's fast-flaring temper of late.
Chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum said in an address at the PPP's
24th anniversary celebration at the Jakarta Fair Ground that the
public had become more sensitive to malfeasance, arrogance,
hypocrisy and power abuse.
"We urge central and regional authorities and security
officers to take a lesson from this recent development within
society, instead of inciting public resentment by violating fair
play at the general election," Ismail said.
Three riots had exploded in the last three months, two of them
in the last two weeks, showing how easily the nation fell prey to
either ethnic or religious tension, he said. The most recent
ruckus in the Sanggau Ledo subdistrict of West Kalimantan killed
five, injured nine and forced thousands of people to seek refuge.
At least 10,000 yelling, flag-waving cadres, mostly young men,
attended the PPP's anniversary. Dressed in the party's color of
green, they formed convoys of trucks and motorcycles on their way
to and from the celebration in what could be their last motorcade
because the government recently issued decrees banning rallies
during the one-month campaign period before the election.
An estimated 120 million people across the archipelago are
expected to cast ballots on May 29 in the seventh general
election since the republic was founded in 1945. An election has
been held every five years since the New Order government came to
power in ________.
Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie SM, the secretary-general
of the ruling Golkar, Ari Mardjono, and the Indonesian Democratic
Party's chairman, Soerjadi, attended yesterday's celebration.
Bureaucracy
Ismail said fair and just elections had been harmed by the
bureaucracy's dual functions.
"A better-quality general election faces a lot of hurdles if
discriminative treatment of the three contestants, which share
the Pancasila state ideology, remain," Ismail said.
He said one of the contesting groups was immature because it
fully relied on the bureaucracy to win elections. "This
contradicts the government's continuous call for the self-
reliance of each contestant," Ismail said.
Golkar has one a majority of votes in the last five elections
and is gunning for another sweeping victory in May. It aims to
win 70 percent of votes, 2 percent higher than in 1992. There are
425 seats at the House of Representatives up for grabs in May.
The Moslem-oriented party, a 1973 fusion of four Islamic
parties, has always played second fiddle to Golkar. It drew 15
percent of votes in 1992 for 64 seats in the House, down from 16
percent in 1987.
The election is drawing near, but Ismail still played down the
issue of winning or losing. "We are fully ready for the election,
but our main objectives are unity and fresh aspirations which
reflect public interests," he said.
Minister of Home Affairs Yogie argued that the government
always sought every avenue to improve the election.
"Both the government and the public have tried to live up to
demands for a quality election, but we must be wise that efforts
cannot be undertaken massively, drastically and all at once,"
Yogie said.
The last four elections have been marked by protests from
Golkar's two rival parties over alleged voter intimidation and
violations of the principles of direct, general and confidential
elections.
Yogie said the government could only the change election laws
to improve the quality of elections. "They (the rules) may not
satisfy all the people, but if the regulations are implemented
properly, at least the next election will be better than the
previous ones," he said.
The government's 1985 electoral law replaced its 1969
electoral law. Operational regulations on general elections were
reviewed last year.
"A quality election depends also on individual voter's motives
in picking his or her choice. We have already agreed that
everybody's right to choose is guaranteed by law," Yogie said.
(amd)