FOCUS-Doubts dampen Indonesia's election euphoria
(Updates with Darusman, Rudini quotes, updates figures)
By Andrew Marshall
JAKARTA, June 9 (Reuters) - Mounting concern over the glacial pace of vote counting soured Indonesia's election euphoria on Wednesday, as an unofficial tally showed the ruling Golkar party leaping into second place amid claims of foul play.
Analysts have warned that a strong showing for Golkar could raise accusations of cheating and potentially spark unrest.
Early tallies put Golkar trailing in third place, but an unofficial tally late on Wednesday showed it leap-frogging the opposition Nation Awakening Party (PKB) and grabbing more than 20 percent of the vote.
The Moslem-oriented PKB's figurehead, Abdurrahman Wahid, has warned he could set up an ''emergency government'' if evidence of tampering with the result emerged.
A senior Golkar official insisted the party had not tampered with the votes, despite allegations of vote-buying and coercion raised by an Indonesian monitoring group.
''I don't have to deny anything. It goes without saying because we are not involved in any counting of the votes,'' deputy party chairman Marzuki Darusman said. ''This system is quite foolproof, there are certain possible loopholes here and there but in general I think the overall operational procedures prevent the possibility of massive tinkering.''
The People's Voter Education Network, a monitoring group, cited allegations that Golkar officials had paid some voters 3,000 to 20,000 rupiah (40 U.S. cents to $2.60). Some people had been coerced to vote for Golkar, it said.
Golkar is deeply unpopular among many Indonesians for its links with the regime of former President Suharto, forced from power in May 1998 amid mass unrest and a savage economic crisis.
International monitors expressed serious concerns about the pace of the process. ''This will cast gravest doubts that the whole operation will in the end be conducted as it should be,'' European Union chief observer John Morgan said.
The poll, Indonesia's first democratic election in four decades, passed off on Monday without the feared violence.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, leading another team of election monitors, said he believed the delay was caused by technical factors but monitors would have to remain vigilant.
''Continuing delays could give rise to confusion and tension among the contestants and the public,'' the monitoring team led by Carter said in a statement.
Electoral commission head Rudini said he was disappointed that results even from cities were taking so long, but said he hoped the speed would soon improve. ''I hope tomorrow that we will have a speed up in the count,'' he said.
Recounts would be held in a handful of polling stations, mostly in the restive regions of Aceh and East Timor, he added.
As of Wednesday evening, figures from Rudini's official General Election Commission (KPU) representing 4.4 percent of votes counted gave the party of opposition figurehead Megawati Sukarnoputri a commanding lead on 38 percent.
Golkar was a distant third with around 15 percent with Wahid's PKB second with 21 percent.
But unofficial tallies from a media centre put Golkar second with 21 percent. Those figure represented more than 6.6 percent of the vote and also put Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle first with 35 percent and the PKB third with 12 percent.
International observers said voting day had been free and fair, with only minor irregularities which would not invalidate the overall results. But opposition parties were becoming increasingly restless with the speed of counting.
Amien Rais, leader of the National Mandate Party (PAN) which was languishing far behind its expectations in the early vote tallies, said the ''painfully slow'' count was a worry.
''These delays could raise suspicion. Why is it taking so long?'' he said.
Several opposition officials said they were concerned that Golkar, which ruled for decades as the political vehicle of former President Suharto, could be trying to cheat.
Investors, who had cheered the absence of any serious violence in Monday's poll, also grew impatient for a result, sending both the local currency and shares lower.
Indonesia's powerful military also called for calm. ''I hope the people will be patient because the result of the counting cannot be obtained at one go but is done in stages,'' armed forces commander General Wiranto said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
