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Indonesia Heading For Fresh Polls?
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Indonesia might be heading for surprise snap polls to decide the fate of the ailing and embattled president, Abdurrahman Wahid, sources said on Sunday.
The proposal made Friday by members of the Indonesian parliament to hold an expedited general election, won the support of officials of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization and political observers, the Jakarta Post said.
"The idea to expedite the general election is aimed at avoiding a political vacuum since the current government has been unable to perform its daily duties ... and it is Gus Dur's [Wahid's nickname] administration that should hold the general election," NU deputy secretary-general Masduki Baidlawi told the Post.
Earlier on Thursday, NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi suggested that an expedited general election was necessary to settle the rift between the executive and legislative branches. His appeal was well received by members of the parliament.
"Holding an expedited general election would allow the bickering political camps to save face," Hasyim said.
IslamOnline reported Saturday that a general election would certainly diminish Wahid's grip on power since his party cannot win more than 10% to 15% of the vote in any circumstances.
The Golkar party, and other Islamic Axis parties, are bound to fare better in any fresh polls. Their popularity has surged in remote areas and in villages around Indonesia.
In coalition with the Golkar, the Islamic Axis, alongside parties like the Crescent and Star party (PBB) of former Law Minister Yusril Mahendra, could garner some 50% of the national vote, leaving the other 50% to Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri's party, the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P), that won the 1999 elections with 37% of the votes.
Wahid's party, the National Awakening Party (PKB), is expected to garner no less than the 10% of votes it registered in 1999. With such a result, Wahid would lose the presidency.
Masduki also said an expedited general election was the only option to allow the political elite to compete fairly for the presidency. "Through this fair competition, nobody will get hurt, even if they lose."
Masduki dismissed speculation that an expedited election was a maneuver to prevent Soekarnoputri from taking over as head of state if Wahid failed to maintain the presidency.
"I think Megawati should not worry that she might lose the election as she leads the country's largest party," he said.
Observers however, urged authorities to improve the election system. They want the system to reflect the desire of the people and not to produce a political elite of the same quality as the current one.
Meanwhile, Jakarta's relative calm was disturbed Friday when some 500 protesters from the Love-the-Nation Generation and the Betawi Youth Front staged a joint protest demanding Wahid resign.
"Abdurrahman Wahid has prolonged the people's suffering with the unsolved recent ethnic violence, while other political leaders never consider the interests of the people," the protesters said.
They urged government and political leaders to work to prevent violence and anarchy in the nation. They also called for the resignation of the president, Assembly speaker Amien Rais, and House Speaker Akbar Tandjung.
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