Sampang revoting to go on despite PPP protests

SURABAYA (JP): Today's election rerun in 86 polling stations in Sampang regency on Madura island will be valid even if the United Development Party (PPP) decides not to send any of its scrutineers, East Java Governor Basofi Soedirman said yesterday.

The electoral rules allowed the head of a polling station to appoint volunteers as ballot scrutineers to represent any of the three parties contesting the polls, Basofi said.

"The polling rerun will go on as planned ... If the PPP still refuses to take part, then that's its choice. But the votes will be valid," he told journalists.

The scrutineers' job includes endorsing the election results.

PPP officials in Sampang have demanded the repeat election be held in all 1,033 polling stations in the Sampang regency, and not just in the 86 polling stations selected by the government.

They said that unless their demand was met, they would not send any party officials to endorse the election results in the 86 polling stations.

"We won't have anything to do with Wednesday's election rerun. It (whatever happens) will be beyond our responsibilities," Djakfar Shadiq, a PPP official in Sampang, said.

The government has said the election rerun should be held in polling stations where the ballot boxes were burned during three days of unrest following the vote-counting after last Thursday's nationwide election.

PPP officials pointed out that the violence was triggered by claims of vote-rigging in the first place and therefore the new election should be held in all polling stations in Sampang.

Basofi said it would be PPP's own loss if it refused to endorse the repeat election, because it would not affect the validity of the election.

"We've done our best, but people keep fussing around.

"This election rerun is already causing the government a headache," the governor said.

Many PPP supporters in Sampang have said they would not take part in the election rerun and have returned their ballot forms to the local election committee.

Djakfar said his party could not be blamed for the consequences if the new election was held today. "We won't be able to control the people's anger," he said.

"Don't blame the people if they get emotional. You've got to look into the root of the problem," he said.

Djakfar said the stand taken by the PPP Sampang branch was supported by 70 Moslem leaders in the area and also by the party's East Java chapter.

Military authorities in East Java have issued an order to shoot on sight anyone trying to disrupt today's election rerun in Sampang, Suara Pembaruan daily reported.

"There will be no compromise," East Java Military Chief Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo said.

"I have ordered (my men) to shoot on sight any rioter or anyone trying to disrupt the repeat election here," the general was quoted by the afternoon daily as saying.

Imam was speaking in Sampang while observing the construction of new polling stations to replace those destroyed in the three days of violence.

He said the authorities would not risk any disturbance of the repeat polling. Some 800 soldiers have been sent from Surabaya to Sampang to oversee security in today's election, he said.

The PPP and Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) have alleged that the May 29 general election was not as fair as people had expected.

PPP officials have demanded that election in several regencies in East Java, West Sumatra, South Sulawesi and several districts in Jakarta be repeated.

So far, the government has rejected the demand. (nur/aan)