Students protest PPP signing poll results

JAKARTA (JP): About 20 students protested yesterday over the United Development Party's (PPP) decision to accept the general election results despite alleged widespread poll-rigging.

Under the watchful eyes of security officers, the activists from the Committee of Students Caring for Indonesia protested at the party's headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro.

They accused the PPP of hypocrisy over its endorsement of poll results after its officials had said that electoral fraud had been "worse" than in previous elections.

"The huge popular support demonstrated during the campaign was a sign that people badly needed fundamental political reforms but the PPP has only given them lip service," the activists' statement said.

In the May 29 election, the PPP won 89 seats in the House of Representatives. It came second after the government-backed Golkar party, which won 325 seats.

The conflict-ridden Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) saw its representation in the House fall from 56 seats to 11.

The activists urged the PPP to take its many reported electoral law violations to court as it had repeatedly promised.

The PPP approved the poll results after repeatedly threatening to refuse to do so because of widespread poll-rigging by election officials who favored Golkar.

After signing the poll results last Monday, PPP chief Ismail Hasan Metareum apologized to party supporters for having done so.

Ismail acknowledged that signing the poll results was an "unpopular" decision that he had had to make for the good of the nation's future.

The activists dispersed after PPP official Amir Sanang promised to file their petition with the party's leadership. (11)