Regional election committees formed

Regional election committees formed

JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the National Committee for
General Elections Moch. Yogie S.M. yesterday inducted the
governors of Indonesia's 27 provinces as chairs of the regional
committees for the 1997 general elections.

Yogie also inaugurated the regional election monitoring
committees and the election committee for general elections for
Indonesians overseas. The last committee is chaired by Rahardjo
Djojonegoro.

Yogie, who is also Minister of Home Affairs, told the
governors to induct their own officials by Monday.

Yogie's instruction is significant for East Java Governor
Basofi Soedirman, because he will have to exclude representatives
from the provincial branch of the Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI) due to the ongoing leadership conflict there.

"The seats for PDI representatives will be left vacant,"
Basofi was quoted by Antara as saying. "However, I will consult
(other) officials on which PDI representatives to be included on
the committee."

Basofi also said he hoped there will be solutions to the
problem before Monday. However, he hinted that he might have to
choose one camp over the other in the conflict.

"I will refer to the results of my meeting with the PDI
branches last month," he said.

Two PDI activists, Latief Pudjosakti and Soetjipto, both claim
to be the rightful branch chairman. Latief was reportedly
supported by the provincial administration, while Soetjipto had
the backing of the PDI executive board led by Megawati
Soekarnoputri.

Basofi had attempted to bring the two activists to a
reconciliation in a meeting, but Soetjipto balked at the idea.

Yesterday, Basofi indirectly confirmed that he sent the forms
for PDI representatives in the general election committees to
Latief only. When asked by reporters why he did not send the
forms to Soetjipto, he laughed. "Soetjipto who?" he said.

In Surabaya, Soetjipto told The Jakarta Post that his camp had
in fact submitted to four names to Basofi last month to represent
the PDI branch on the committee. "I didn't want to be thought of
as a passive person," he said.

Latief told the Post he has not submitted any names to the
governor.

Soetjipto expressed regrets over the situation. If Basofi
decided to leave the PDI seats in the committee empty, "it would
mean a setback in the political development here," he said.

He said the inclusion of PDI representatives on the regional
committee is not only a duty, but also a right for all political
contestants. (swe/15)