Carter met with Habibie on Sunday in Jakarta RELATED VIDEO CNN's Maria Ressa reports Indonesia's 130 million voters will choose a new parliament Monday Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Mike Chinoy reports Indonesians go to the polls on Monday for their first democratic election in 44 years. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Mike Chinoy interviews Aceh rebels in the jungle of Sumatra Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

June 6, 1999
Web posted at: 3:55 p.m. EDT (1955 GMT)

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- With his ruling Golkar Party on the verge of its first defeat in decades, President B.J. Habibie hailed Monday's parliamentary elections as a "reawakening of democracy" for Indonesia.

"This is the first election after more than three decades that provides the atmosphere for the people to enjoy real political freedom," Habibie said in a nationwide television address Sunday night.

Voter turnout is expected to be heavy in a general election that could transform Indonesia into the world's third largest democracy. About 91 percent of the country's 130 million eligible voters are registered.

Polls also indicate that Habibie's Golkar party -- once guaranteed two-thirds of the vote in the Suharto era -- could well be cast into the political wilderness.

Habibie had some advice for Monday's losers.

"Those who fail must accept the reality and avoid doing anything that could harm society, while the winner should refrain from any arrogance and keep in mind that we are part of a big national family," Habibie said.

Carter meets with Habibie, opposition

Hundreds of international observers will be on hand for Monday's voting. The Indonesian government has also spent large sums of money on equipment so the vote can be counted quickly after the election.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met with Habibie and leaders of several opposition parties on Sunday. He predicted the vote will be fair, democratic and peaceful.

On Sunday, polling booths were being set up around the huge archipelago to at the end of a three-week election campaign remarkable for its lack of serious violence.

"I think there has been a glorious demonstration by the Indonesian people so far that they are not only committed to democracy and freedom, but they are also committed to having a peaceful election," Carter said.

Vote-rigging and vote-buying marred previous tightly controlled elections under President Suharto, who resigned last year after deadly riots and student demonstrations.

Before the campaign, Indonesia had been rocked by some of the worst communal violence and economic turmoil in its history, but the unrest calmed down during the official three-week campaign period.

There were only scattered clashes between supporters of 48 parties taking part in the election.

International investment at stake

The international community has invested more than $40 billion to rescue Indonesia's battered economy and has sent in hundreds of observers. Two-thirds of Monday's voters were not born when Indonesia last held a democratic election in 1955.

That poll ended in failure: opposing parties were at each other's throat, parliament could not function and founding President Sukarno took control by establishing "guided democracy" -- a euphemism for military-backed autocracy.

Opinion polls show the opposition parties taking the lion's share of the vote for the new parliament, which is finally set to take a leading role in the country's political life after decades as Suharto's rubber stamp.

Many political analysts predict the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle, which has a huge following among the country's poor, will be the front-runner in Monday's vote.

Coalition could be formed

The party's hugely popular leader, Megawati Sukarnoputri, told Reuters she expected to win 40 percent of the vote.

But analysts are more skeptical, saying her party may not win enough votes to dominate parliament alone and may be forced to join other opposition parties in a coalition.

It has already formed an uneasy alliance with two other opposition parties but none will commit themselves to open talk of a coalition until after the election.

The horse trading will start in earnest after the election, when even Golkar could still have a chance to sit in a coalition.

It is also unclear with whom the influential military will side. The military is not allowed to vote, but gets handed 38 seats in the new parliament.

Party platforms have taken a back seat to personalities in the campaign, making Monday's vote almost a dry run for the presidential election set for November.

The head of the most successful party in Monday's poll will automatically become front-runner for president.

Jakarta Bureau Chief Maria Ressa, Hong Kong Bureau Chief Mike Chinoy andReuters contributed to this report.

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