Threats and allegations

The board conference held by the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) on Tuesday and Wednesday ended with the issuance of a political declaration and a note of protest regarding the implementation of the recent general election.

In its political declaration, the PDI said election organizers and government authorities had violated the principles of a direct, open, free and secret election as well as those of honesty and fairness.

In its protest note, the party threatened to consider abstaining from participation in the subsequent stages of the election process. It said this threat would be withdrawn only if the balloting was repeated and legal action was taken against the offenders. This apparently means that the party would refuse to sign the balloting and vote counting documents at all levels of the process.

We have the impression that PDI's political stance reflects the party's tendency to overcompensate by trying to offset and cover up its own weaknesses and find a scapegoat for its poor balloting performance.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta