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Megawati's boycott is one among millions

Source
Sydney Morning Herald - May 29, 1997

Louise Williams, Jakarta – When Indonesia's democracy leader, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, announced her decision to boycott today's election, she joined millions of people so disillusioned with Indonesia's political system that they believe the best way to use their vote is to spoil it.

The Indonesian boycott movement, or golput, began in 1971 when a group of opponents of the Soeharto regime announced they would no longer vote. The golput has since become an important measure of discontent within the controlled political system.

The Soeharto Government has called on people to vote today and warned that inciting others to boycott the poll is illegal, but pre-election surveys of students and young people across Java show that 60-90 per cent of first-time voters will either spoil their ballot or not go to the polls.

Many people believe the true golput figures will not be released but, behind the scenes, the Soeharto Government is carefully monitoring this symbol of protest.

It is difficult to assess how many people have used elections to make their silent protest in the past, given the official turnout figures of about 90 per cent, but academics estimate that up to 20 per cent of voters may boycott this poll, a figure representing about 25 million people.

"I will choose all," said a Jakarta driver yesterday morning, laughing, meaning he would invalidate his vote by marking all parties.

"There is no point. For the ordinary Indonesians, this election does nothing. The poor just stay poor, they struggle to earn money and the rich are just so rich.

"I like Megawati but I can't vote for her," he said, referring to Ms Megawati's exclusion from the election, following the Government-manipulated split of her Partai Demokrasi Indonesia (PDI), which forced her and her supporters out of the political mainstream.

The key question today is whether Ms Megawati's supporters will follow her boycott example or back the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP) as the only way of maximising the vote against the ruling Golkar party.

However, many supporters of the PDI, originally a coalition of nationalist and Christian parties, would feel uncomfortable voting for a Muslim-led party.

Indonesia's Christian and Chinese minorities have been the target of riots over the past year, with working-class Muslims venting their frustration against ethnic Chinese domination of the Indonesian economy.

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