Vice President Hamzah Haz urges his opponents not to resort to slander to destroy his political career. Meanwhile, labor rights activists clash with police; and President Megawati Sukarnoputri enjoys diplomatic duties.

Haz on Tuesday appealed to his critics not to use smear tactics against him. "Don't use all means to destroy your competitors," he was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.

Asked who his political opponents are, the vice president and leader of the Islam-based United Development Party (PPP) simply said: "I don't know."

However, he did say the press should not sell cheap news – a reference to recent media speculation that police arrested one of his daughters during a drugs bust last Thursday night in Jakarta. Haz has described the reports as slanderous and says they are part of a systematic campaign to end his political career. But he is yet to file any lawsuits over the alleged libel.

Turning to next year's elections, Haz said the presidential and vice presidential elections should be held separately from polling for legislative assemblies.

"If the elections for members of the House of Representatives and district/provincial legislative bodies, and the president and vice president are held on separate days, voters will have the opportunity to make their best judgment in voting," he said.

He argued that if elections for the upper and lower legislative assemblies and for the president and vice president are held simultaneously, voters won't have sufficient concentration to make the best choices.

Indonesia is scheduled to hold a general election next year, as well as its first ever direct presidential election. But members of the General Election Commission (KPU) have recently said that separate balloting systems could mean the country's next president and vice president won't be elected until at least January 2005.

Bashful boycott

In East Java, university students on Tuesday said they would not vote in the general election because of their disappointment with the country's electoral system.

Voting is not compulsory in Indonesia, but in the past political activists have been jailed for encouraging others not to vote.

The East Java Student Executive Body (BEM) insisted that it's not telling the public to boycott next year's election. "It's not a suggestion for the people but merely a discourse," BEM-East Java spokesman Deyisnil Fariadi said at a meeting of 150 student representatives from 80 universities across the province.

Deyis, who heads the Sunan Ampel State Islamic Institute's student council, said choosing not to vote has nothing to do with efforts to boycott the general election.

Chaos theory

Former regional autonomy minister Ryaas Rasyid on Monday predicted the 2004 general election will be prone to chaos because certain parties will try to disturb the electoral process.

"Those who do not want the next general election to run unimpeded will likely be represented by parties consistent in maintaining their 'status quo', as well as the parties that have no access to the general election for failing to meet the electoral qualifications," he said.

Rasyid, who leads the small National Unity and Democratic Party (PPPD), said disgruntled parties have the potential to incite chaos on a massive scale. And if millions of people become involved in the mass unrest, the military and police won't be able to cope with the situation, he added.

Islamic Unity An Islamic scholar has called on the country's Muslim parties, both large and small, to merge into two or three parties in order to win more votes.

"If they do not unite, I am sure it would be difficult for these parties to win seats in the legislative assembly in the 2004 elections," said Professor La Odea Abdul Rauf, dean of Southeast Sulawesi's Haluoleo University.

He said the lack of cohesion among Islam-based parties caused their lack of success in the 1999 general election. "Dozens of Islamic parties contested, but only some of them could gain seats in parliament. The number of seats they won was small, less than 25% of the total seats contested."

Rauf said merging the nation's Islamic parties would have two main advantages: competition among them would be narrowed down and voters would not be confused.

Clash over manpower law

Hundreds of students, workers and activists of the Democratic People's Party (PRD) clashed with police on Tuesday when they tried to enter the national parliament building where legislators were passing the manpower bill into law.

The melee erupted when the demonstrators tried to pull down a barbed-wire barricade at the entrance of the parliament compound. Police had earlier reportedly asked the demonstrators to send some representatives to the plenary meeting of parliament, but the offer was allegedly turned down.

At about 2 pm, police used tear gas, water cannons and batons to disperse the protesters. Some members of the crowd responded by throwing stones at the police, while others fled the scene.

The manpower bill covers several important labor issues – including the recognition of the right of workers to strike, the existence of temporary workers, and sabbatical leave.

But critics say the bill fails to protect workers from unfair dismissal. They also say it fails to recognize the rights of temporary workers, making them vulnerable to abuse by employers.

Ceremonial situations

Megawati on Tuesday met with the leaders of South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said Megawati called on South African President Thabo Mbeki, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong.

On Monday, the opening day of the two-day NAM summit, Megawati said Indonesia and South Africa have initiated the Asia-Africa Conference II, which will be held in Bandung, West Java, this year.

The first Asia-Africa Conference, held in Bandung in 1955 by Megawati's father founding president Sukarno, led to the birth of NAM. Antara reported that Megawati is scheduled to attend an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Qatar on March 5.

The president and her entourage are scheduled to depart on March 3 and will be back soon after the OIC meeting winds up on March 5.

Natalegawa said Indonesia fully supports the OIC meeting, during which Islamic countries will discuss their opposition to America's plan to use military action to force Iraq to disarm.