Smaller parties threatened over plan to reject polls

SURABAYA (JP): Minor parties are finding it an uphill challenge in their last-ditch effort to survive as the Election Supervisory Committee threatened on Tuesday to charge them with disrupting the poll process for their plan not to endorse the poll results.

Chairman of the East Java official poll watchdog, Imam Sukarno, said leaders of the minor parties would face five years imprisonment if they went ahead with their move.

"If these people do not stop agitating others to reject the polls, they will risk serving a jail sentence," an upset Imam said.

He was referring to General Election Law No. 3 issued early this year, which says that a person who is found guilty of causing disorder to, preventing or disrupting the poll process by intent is sentenced to a maximum of five years imprisonment.

Chapter leaders of 23 parties registered in the province have pledged to reject the polls unless the Election Supervisory Committee takes firm measures against parties violating the election rule and the General Elections Commission (KPU) lifts a stipulation which bans a party with votes of less than 2 percent from the next elections.

Local chairman of the United Party (PP) Andi Suherman led the last-ditch survival move, which could foil the Provincial Election Committee from announcing the final tally of the votes. Results of a poll are legitimate upon approval of at least two- thirds of the parties contesting the election.

With the nation-wide vote tabulation coming to a finale, less than 10 parties are likely to meet the minimum requirement of votes to contest the 2004 elections. Opposition to the ruling has been on the rise across the country, with the boycott serving as a last resort to forcing the KPU to change its mind.

The East Java electoral committee is waiting for a report from Sumenep regency counterpart to wrap up tabulation of the votes in the province.

Imam denied allegations that the agency he chairs lacked initiative in handling reports of violations or had left them unnoticed.

"Their (the small parties') allegations are untrue. Just to show how serious we are, we have reported some suspects to the police," Imam said without further elaboration.

In Purwokerto, Central Java, some 200 students from several universities staged a rally to reject the polls. The students, grouped as the Indonesian People's United Struggle Movement (KAPRI), doubted the legitimacy of the polls due to the sweeping range of violations, particularly outside Java.

The group circulated thousands of leaflets suggesting people to follow in their footsteps and demand the establishment of a new transitional government and a dismissal of the military's sociopolitical role.

Violations

Research conducted by the Airlangga University in cooperation with USAID since May 14 found that 580 election-related violations took place in East Java. The offenses ranged from intimidation to attack of party symbols.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) supporters topped the list with 235 violations, followed by those of National Awakening Party (PKB) with 156 cases. Both parties have won more than half of the 68 House of Representatives seats on offer in the province so far, according to the KPU calculation as of Monday.

Research coordinator Aribowo said most violations by PKB supporters occurred in areas dubbed its strongholds, particularly Madura, an island off the province.

In Bandung, the Rectors Forum, a non-governmental poll watchdog, said the Election Supervisory Committee did not need to investigate violations which reportedly happened in the eight provinces.

"Basically we found nothing extraordinary that indicated any malfeasance in the provinces. If there were any, our volunteers would have disclosed it," the forum executive director Sudjana Sapi'ie said on Tuesday.

He instead questioned the sluggish performance of poll organizers, whom the forum volunteers said had slowed down the process of votes tabulation.

"Our volunteers found many of the poll committee workers did nothing. Our early presumption was that they were not well paid," Sudjana said.

The Election Supervisory Committee announced on Monday it would continue investigation of violations in South Kalimantan, Bengkulu, North, South and Southeast Sulawesi, West and East Nusa Tenggara plus Maluku.(43/45/nur/amd)