University rectors urge people not to abstain from polls PADANG, West Sumatra (Antara): Chairman of the Indonesian Rectors' Forum Marlis Rahman urged the Indonesian people on Wednesday not to abstain from the presidential run-off on Sept. 20.
"Even though it is a right of every citizen, not voting will be a personal loss of opportunity and tarnish the course of the history of democracy here, which is still growing," Marlis said. Marlis made the remark in response to a decision announced on Tuesday by 11 Muslim organizations under Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, the Muhammadiyah, not to vote, as none of the candidates met their ideals. Any citizen could exercise their right to vote or not, but abstaining would not be educational for the general public, said Marlis, rector of Padang-based Andalas University. In a related development, executives of the Alumni Corps of the Association of Islamic Students (KAHMI) also rejected any calls for abstention and urged its members to go ahead with their votes in the run-off. Asri Harahap, head of KAHMI's national assembly, said in Jakarta on Wednesday any figures of rival parties calling for a no-vote should present their stance fairly, by accepting that their candidates failed in the July 5th election. "Any party that urges people not to vote (in the round-off) after their own candidates failed are irresponsible and non-democratic. KAHMI urges the political elite not to encourage abstention," he said. (**) http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20040714204653&irec=0 ____________________________________________________ Berhenti/mengganti konfigurasi keanggotaan anda, silahkan ke: http://rantaunet.org/palanta-setting ___________________________________________________
