Wahono laments political parties empty promises

JAKARTA (JP): House Speaker Wahono said yesterday political parties had exploited the public during the election campaign.

Wahono said in a speech which marked the opening of the House of Representatives' final sessions for the 1992-1997 term, that rampant exploitation of the public was "the most tragic defiance of democracy" because the election campaign was not a forum for empty talk.

"In order to get huge public support, all parties vowed to promote poverty alleviation, housing development that didn't require demolishing other houses first, education and health improvement," Wahono said.

"Campaigning should not have become a forum where you made promises just like that," he said.

House of Representatives' members resumed work yesterday after a recess that began April 17. The legislators will have to complete deliberations on eight bills before their five-year term ends on Sept. 30.

Wahono said that now the election was over, the parties bore the responsibility of fulfilling their promises.

"It's not that difficult to make the promises come true because we have a lot of opportunity to do so," he said.

Golkar, as expected, emerged the election's runaway winner with more than 74 percent of the vote, followed by the United Development Party (PPP) which took 23 percent, and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) 3 percent.

Wahono questioned the quality of the election on grounds that it had failed to help the nation mature politically.

"Election quality can be seen in the dedication of election organizers and the quality of political parties and their supporters," Wahono said.

Both PPP and PDI have cried foul over voting in some parts of the country, accusing local election organizers of violations ranging from administrative irregularities to crimes. They said the violations took place at all stages of the election process. Their protests peaked in their tentative decision not to approve the poll results.

Wahono said that party supporters' destructive and radical behavior during the election campaign was another example of political immaturity.

"In order to have a quality election the processes should be carried out in line with our commitment to national unity ... which should be maintained in connection with reactions to the election results," he said, in reference to the PPP and PDI threat to reject the election results in protest of the alleged violations.

He said the election outcome would result in the distribution of House seats, which heavily favors Golkar.

"All efforts to change the internal House rules should be appreciated, but decision making processes should stick to the principle of 'deliberation for consensus' despite the imbalance in seat distribution," he said.

Wahono lamented the fact that the general election, the sixth under the New Order, was tarnished by riots, but refused to blame the public for spreading mass violence and terrorism.

"It has drawn our deep concern and forced us to use our common sense to find the root of the problem," he said.

More than 200 people were killed in riots and accidents during the campaign which preceded the May 29 election.

Wahono said the campaign failed to serve as a means of political education and suggested the government change the election rules to help the election campaign run smoothly without sacrificing public enthusiasm.

"Recent events should teach us a lesson ... how far have the current political structure and culture accommodated people and led them to political maturity," he said.

"Now it's time for national contemplation, for us to review our efforts toward building our national identity," he said.

Wahono said that violence would not have prevailed if political openness had received a boost and everybody refrained from arrogant behavior.

"We warned earlier that arrogance was dangerous, especially that on the part of the bureaucracy," Wahono said.

He said the House was responsible for relaying people's expectations to government officials. People's expressions could be delivered through formal procedures or emerge in the form of conflict, he said.

"We need to identify what people really want in their various expressions, deliberate on them and relay it to the bureaucrats," he said.

He called on legislators to dedicate themselves to the people they represented to alleviate criticism that House legislators merely rubber-stamped the government's policies. (amd)