Soeharto calls for respect of election principles
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto called yesterday for respect for freedom of choice and for the public right to vote in the 1997 general election in a direct and confidential manner.
President Soeharto said the public should be given the widest opportunity to choose the election contestants for themselves. He made the call here at the opening of the two-day fourth congress of Himpunan Wanita Karya, the women's wing of the ruling Golkar.
"By organizing the general election, we are giving ample opportunity for people to decide for themselves. We should respect and uphold the principles of 'direct, general, free and confidential' that guide the general election," Soeharto was quoted by Antara as saying at the State Palace in front of some 400 congress participants.
The general election, once every five years, is a demonstration of people's commitment to implementing the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, he said.
"It's a demonstration of our commitment to democratization," he said at the event, also attended by organization chairperson Nani Sudarsono, House Speaker Wahono, Minister of Social Services Inten Soeweno, State Minister for Women's Role Mien Sugandhi and Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung.
Earlier this month President Soeharto in decree no. 86/1996 set Thursday, May 29, as next year's general election day. Voting will take place throughout the country on that day.
The United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) are contesting the election against Golkar which has won, by huge margins, all five general elections held under Soeharto.
The two minority parties had earlier demanded election day either be held on a holiday or be declared a holiday, on the grounds that this would ensure more people went to the polling booths and to prevent the cheating and intimidation they claim has marred past elections.
The two parties had also called for the principles of "honest" and "fair" to be introduced in addition to the existing principles of "direct", "general", "free" and "confidential" that guide the general election. Golkar has so far wet-blanketed the call.
The government earlier announced that the election campaign period would be between April 29 and May 23, followed by a five day cooling off period.
The election will determine the composition of the 500-strong House of Representatives (DPR), and the provincial and municipal legislative councils. At national level, 425 of the 500 DPR seats are at stake. The remaining 75 seats are reserved for the Armed Forces, whose members do not vote.
The General Election Institute is currently evaluating lists of candidates put forward by the three competing political groupings. The evaluation process includes screening out candidates suspected of past communist links.
The election will be followed by the presidential election in March 1998 by the 1,000-strong People's Consultative Assembly, which consists of the 500 House members plus 500 people selected to represent people from all walks of life.
In his speech President Soeharto said Indonesia was facing great uncertainty in the coming century.
"Rapid changes are occurring not only in the fields of science and technology, but also in sociopolitics with its far-reaching impacts," Soeharto said.
"There are so many new changes that we have to deal with it by taking difficult decisions, especially in economics," he said. (swe)