Team of Eleven begins examining poll contestants

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the Team of Eleven, which is entrusted with the selection of poll contestants, begin their trips to provinces and regencies on Monday to investigate the suitability of political parties applying to contest the June 7 elections.

Anas Urbaningrum, who represents youth groups in the team, told Antara that each member is going to two provinces. They will be accompanied by a member of the General Elections Committee (LPU) in their meetings with party executives.

The trips will be made until Feb. 26, but if deemed necessary this can be extended to March 2, said Anas, who is going to Lampung and Jambi.

The team's chairman, scholar Nurcholish Madjid, however, is leaving for the U.S. on Monday for a program with a non- governmental organization there. He is not expected to return until March 1.

Other team members include student activist Rama Pratama, criminologist Mulyana W. Kusumah, and political scientist Miriam Budiardjo.

As of Saturday, 135 political parties have registered at the Ministry of Justice. These are the parties that will be examined by the Team of Eleven.

In a related development, 112 universities and colleges across Central Java agreed on Saturday to allow political parties to hold their campaigns on their campuses between May 18 and June 6.

The sessions, however, must be in the form of public debates and not involve the masses, the managers of the universities said in a meeting in Semarang, Central Java, between party executives and community leaders.

Antara quoted Diponegoro University Rector Eko Budihardjo as saying that the debates should be moderated by political professors of the universities so the sessions would be academic in nature.

"This is to show that campuses can become good referees for the poll contestants," he said.

Meanwhile, it was reported from Brussels by AFP that the European Union is set to increase election aid to Indonesia to up to 10 million euros (US$11.2 million) after protests from Australia and Japan that it was not doing enough to support the country's transition to democracy.

Diplomats said the bloc's foreign ministers will mandate the bloc's executive commission on Monday to find extra funds to help ensure that Indonesia's first elections since the fall of former president Soeharto go smoothly.

To date, the commission has released only two million euros, equivalent to what the EU has donated for elections in Benin, an African country with a population of six million, compared to Indonesia's 204 million.

"It is a quite absurd situation," an EU diplomat acknowledged.

European companies have a vested interest in a stable Indonesia, he said. "An economic recovery in Indonesia is the key to regional recovery."

International donors, including the United Nations Development Program, have been extending financial assistance for local groups to monitor the elections. The Indonesian Rectors Forum, for instance, is recruiting 450,000 students and professors to act as poll watchdogs, while the Independent Elections Monitoring Committee has started training the poll watch volunteers.

Parties

The following are activities of some of the prospective poll contestants.

* The National Awakening Party (PKB) is scheduled to open its congress on Feb. 28 and to issue conclusion on March 3 its criteria for a presidential candidate and a state system that upholds people's representatives.

The congress, to be attended by 200 executives and 200 ulemas of its patron organization Nahdlatul Ulama, will also discuss the possibility of forming a coalition with other parties. One executive, KH Ma'ruf Amin, has expressed a readiness to coalesce with the National Mandate Party, the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

Some 500,000 supporters are expected to attend the opening at Senayan Sports Stadium, one party executive said. The venue's capacity is actually 120,000.

The congress proper will be held at Hotel Peninsula in Jakarta.

* The National Mandate Party (PAN), meanwhile, is battling campaigns from abroad that have the party painted as an organization similar to the Taliban in Afghanistan or Hamas of Palestine.

Antara quoted chairman Amien Rais as saying in Surabaya that "there are people abroad who say, 'beware of Amien, because he comes from Islam, he's probably influenced by Iran, even Hamas or maybe the Taliban'."

He insisted his party has a favorable international image except in the U.S. "I believe the mass media in Japan is viewing PAN positively, as is the media in Australia. And its government officials are at least standing neutral, while the media in Singapore is also positive."

* Golkar executive Agung Laksono has refuted speculation that government assistance for small-scale entrepreneurs and cooperatives was arranged so that recipients may be compelled to vote for the ruling party.

Agung spoke in Denpasar, Bali, after delivering assistance of Rp 380 million for 450 small-scale entrepreneurs in Bangli regency. (swe)