Security body defends proposal on campaigning
JAKARTA (JP): The National Council for Defense and Security defended yesterday its proposal to replace street election campaigning with in-door debates.
The council's secretary-general Lt. Gen. (ret) Soekarto said indoor campaigning would be more productive because it would allow dialog between political leaders and prospective voters.
"In a forum, the public can assess the performance of contestants and check on promises they made last election but failed to keep," he said.
The council submitted the proposal for a new set of election rules to President Soeharto earlier this month, following his call in September for new election campaigning regulations to prevent a repetition of the chaos and violence that marred past elections.
Soeharto said campaigns should not become shows of force and asked the council to draft new campaign regulations for the 1997 general election. The council, all retired military officers, advises the President on state matters.
The council proposed alternating campaign days for the contestants in any given area and introducing a zoning system to prevent supporters of different political groupings from running into each other.
Warm welcome
The proposal received a warm welcome from dominant political group Golkar.
The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the United Development Party (PPP) accepted the proposal with reservations. They demand they be given the same access as Golkar to the mass media, especially the electronic media, which is effectively controlled by the government.
Soekarto said campaign followers should focus on each political organization's programs for the 1998-2003 period.
Golkar, PPP and PDI will contest 425 of the 500 seats in the House of representatives. The 75 remaining seats are reserved for the Armed Forces, as they do not vote.
The presidential election in March 1998 will be determined by the 1,000 member People's Consultative Assembly, which consists of all 500 House members and 500 representatives of the bureaucracy and major organizations.
Soekarto promised every contestant equal access to the mass media for campaigning. He said the final decision on electioneering rests with the President.
"I don't believe the President will issue a ruling hastily because he is supposed to accommodate suggestions from different quarters," he said.
Campaigning is restricted to a 25-day period by electoral law. Next year's campaigning is scheduled to begin on April 29 and end on May 23. There will be a cooling-off period of five days before the election day, which is May 29, 1997. (imn)