Team of Eleven begins examining poll contestants

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)