ID :
35338
Sat, 12/13/2008 - 07:03
Auther :

HOUSE SPEAKER AGAINST EDICTS BANNING NON-PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS

Jakarta, Dec 12 (ANTARA) - House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Agung Laksono said he was against the issuance of religious edicts banning people from withholding their votes from general elections.

Laksono made the statement in response to People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Chairman Hidayat Nurwahid's call on the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to issue an edict against abstaining in general elections.

"I do not agree with the idea because participation in an election is not an obligation. Our law does not obligate people to take part in general elections. So, I am just referring to the law. To my mind, it (the idea) is wrong because participating in elections is only a political right," Laksono said here on Friday.

He said the law did not obligate people to exercise their voting right. "So, what we can do is only giving abstainers good advice and suggestions," he added.

Laksono said he was also against putting negative labels on people who refuse to take part in elections, or who preferred to join 'golput' (abstainer) groups.

He called on political parties and their leaders to introspect. "We had better not judge those who join the 'Golput' groups. Maybe, it is the behavior of the political parties or their leaders that has to be improved," Laksono said.

Asked whether the emergence of golput groups meant that the existing political parties were no good, Laksono refused to confirm it.

"I did not say that but only that political parties should introspect from time to time," he said.

Earlier, Nurwahid had said edicts issued by religious organizations against golput would be an effective way to increase people's participation in elections.

"There have been edicts on Golput issued by religious organizations such as the one by the Nahdatul Ulama (NU)," Nurwahid told the press on Friday.

Nurwahid, who is former president of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said that such edicts were important to make the elections a success.


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