U.S. calls for changes in RI political system

U.S. calls for changes in RI political system

WASHINGTON (Reuter): The United States has called for changes in Indonesia's political system as Golkar confirms its rule with a landslide election victory.

"The United States believes that parliamentary elections are tightly controlled by the government of Indonesia," State Department spokesman John Dinger said Friday.

"The electoral system severely limits political competition."

Dinger said the Independent Election Monitoring Committee had stated that, while Thursday's election proceeded smoothly, there were reports of multiple voting, intimidation of party scrutineers, discriminating treatment of voters and other procedural irregularities.

The committee had found that the entire election process lacked transparency, Dinger said.

"We do hope the government of Indonesia takes steps to investigate those allegations and takes corrective action if needed," he said. "More broadly, we also believe Indonesia should move toward a political system in which the will of the people can be heard."

An Asian-based human rights group issued a report Saturday in Jakarta which criticized the election, saying glaring irregularities had undermined the right to vote.

The Bangkok-based Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development's delegation, which had observed the election, had basic concerns over irregularities in the electoral process.

The delegation's coordinator, Evelyn Balais-Serrano, said the delegates from Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia had been surprised by the level of military presence in and around polling booths.

"We think there can never be a clear and fair election in an atmosphere of fear," Balais-Serrano told a press conference to release a three-page statement on the election.

The statement said that some of the delegation's seven members, who visited different regions, had seen people vote without their names being checked off registration lists. It also said there had been no mechanism to ensure that people voting outside their districts did not vote more than once.

The report criticized of the tight restrictions on campaigning in villages, where most of the country's more than 200 million people live.

"Observations, interviews and reports showed that... Golkar had full access and control over the villages as each village head was a member of Golkar. How can the people have free and fair choice under such circumstances."

The delegation was also concerned by the pressure on the more than 20 million first-time voters.

"Interviews with young voters and their parents in Jakarta and some other areas, showed with glaring frequency, fear among the young that failure to vote for Golkar would mean reprisal by their superiors in school involving their academic work, such as a failing mark, for instance, in their final examinations," it said.

The delegation urged the Indonesian government to set up an independent election body and a transparent electoral process that was free of harassment and intimidation.