Soebandrio not allowed to vote in 1997 election

Soebandrio not allowed to vote in 1997 election

JAKARTA (JP): The government yesterday slammed the door on the
possibility of whether three recently released political
prisoners would be allowed to vote in next year's general
election.

Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security
Soesilo Soedarman told journalists that Soebandrio, Omar Dhani
and Soetarto had not met the requirements pertaining to the
restoration of voting rights for former political prisoners.

"Their right to vote cannot yet be considered because they
have to have been released at least one year prior to voting
registration in order to be evaluated for reinstatement," said
Soesilo, referring to Article 2 of Presidential Decree No.
63/1985.

Based on the presidential decree, former political prisoners
must pass an evaluation before they are eligible to regain the
voting rights which they lost while in prison.

The three men were imprisoned for nearly three decades for
their involvement in the 1965 abortive communist coup before
being pardoned by President Soeharto in August of last year.

Soebandrio was foreign minister at the time of the coup while
Omar Dhani was Air Force commander and R.S. Soetarto was deputy
chief of intelligence.

In consideration of their ages and Indonesia's 50th
anniversary of independence, the three were pardoned and released
in August. Announcing this move, the government identified them
as sympathizers of the Indonesian Communist Party and not
members.

The Armed Forces has expressed caution towards their release.

Soesilo's statement effectively ended public speculation on
whether the pardon also meant the three's voting rights would be
restored.

Soesilo was speaking yesterday at the end of a monthly
ministerial meeting on politics and security.

Also attending yesterday's meeting were Minister of Home
Affairs Yogie S. Memed, Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman, Armed
Forces Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung, Chief of the State
Intelligence Board Lt. Gen. Moetojib and Minister of Religious
Affairs Tarmizi Taher.

After chairing the meeting, Soesilo announced that 1,178,526
former political prisoners had been evaluated for their
eligibility to vote, of which 1,157,820 were deemed acceptable.

Among the criteria that determine their eligibility is whether
they have demonstrated loyalty to the state, the 1945
Constitution and Pancasila ideology. They must also demonstrate
that they are no longer patrons of communism, Marxism or
Leninism.

The Ministry of Home Affair's Director General for Social and
Political Affairs, Soetoyo NK, said yesterday that the number of
former political prisoners barred from voting has been declining.

He said the number has dropped from 41,000 in the 1987
election and 35,000 in the 1992 election to 20,706 in 1997.

Speaking about the establishment of independent poll
watchdogs, Soesilo firmly said that while every citizen has the
right to monitor the elections, it would be better if such
activities were not institutionalized.

"The government holds the position that election monitoring
committees are not needed," he stated.

Several independent poll watchdogs have been formed in the
last month. The most prominent is the Independent Election
Monitoring Committee (KIPP) set up by the former editor of the
defunct Tempo magazine, Goenawan Mohamad, and other leading
rights activists, lawyers and academics.

Soesilo refused to elaborate on the fate of these independent
poll groups or whether they should be disbanded. He also refused
to comment when asked if sanctions would be imposed on these
groups if they persist in their intentions.

He said that the government had already established an
official Election Supervision Committee (Panwaslak) and that
should individual voters find inconsistencies in the election
process, they should report this to that committee. (mds)