Jakarta – The Independent Monitoring Committee (KIPP), held a conference last night on the organising of the coming elections and their preparations to monitor the elections.
According to KIPP the Nominations for the Legislative Members (DPR) were "elitist". 13 PPP nominations were rejected, 21 from Golkar and 16 from the PDI with no open procedures to question how or why they were rejected.
KIPP also focused on the nepotism seen in the initial nomination lists. The program was attended by the Presidium Head, Goenawan Mohammad, the Secretary General, Mulyana W. Kusuma and regional KIPP representatives from North and South Sulawasi.
When asked what preparations KIPP had made, Mulyana raised a number of issues:
- KIPP had already held 3 national workshops and last year sent 26 representatives to training sessions held by POLLWATCH in Thailand
- Planning on the future model to be used by monitors prioritizing 8 cities: Jakarta, Malang, Cianjur, Ujung Pandang, Palembang, Pematang Siantar, Jambi and Semarang
According to presidium member Tohap Simanungkalit, 30 international delegations from America and Europe have been presented as observes for the elections.
Because of the limitations of monitoring all aspects of the elections, it is hoped people will report abuses by phone or e-mail said Mulyana.Mulyana also admitted that KIPP had a number of limitations saying "Perhaps the monitoring we are now carrying out will be optimal in the year 2002, but to achieve this we must begin now".
When asked about an election which would not included Megawati's PDI, Goenawan Mohamad replied that KIPP would still monitor the elections. "Our task is not to forbid elections which are unfair, but to provide information on unfair elections" he said. During this opportunity, local KIPP representatives also raised a number of abuses in the initial process of organising the elections including the politicisation of traditional institutions in Bali, Golkar mobilisations in Jambi, the "yellowing" in Pelembang and Semarang and the failure to list thousands of Islams in Malang.
[Abridged translation of a report distributed by News from Pijar received from KIPP (Kelompok Independen Pemantau Pemilu, Independent Election Monitoring Group), e-mail:
Megawati to be questioned again
On January 27, the Supreme Court released a warrant for the South Jakarta police to question Megawati Sukarnoputri and Taufik Kiemas [Megawati's husband - James Balowski], with regard to a meeting held at her house last January 10 to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the formation of the PDI. The release followed written agreement by President Suharto [prior agreement must be obtained form the president before parliamentarians can be questioned/arrested by the authorities - James Balowski] dated January 22. According to RO Tabunan from TPDI (Tim Pembela Demokrasi Indonesia), Megawati had previously applied for permission to hold the celebrations in Denpasar Bali but the application was returned by police without explanation. He said that the police are obliged to provide a reason for rejecting such a request and in doing so, had committed a violation of their duty.
[Abridged translation -James Balowski]