PRESIDENT ASKS PEOPLE NOT TO RUIN SOCIAL HARMONY DURING ELECTION CAMPAIGNS

Jakarta, June 6 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday asked the people not to ruin social harmony during the nine-month-long campaigning period in the runup to 2009 general elections. Speaking at a function marking the launching of a national movement aimed at familiarizing the people with the 2009 polls, he asked the entire nation to give priority to unity and harmony during the campaigning period from July 8, 2008 to April 2, 2009. "I explicitly ask the entire nation not to do unnecessary things during the nine-month-long campaigning period and thus help to make the 2009 general elections a success," he said. The people must hold successful and quality elections by preserving unity and social harmony, he said. The head of state said political party leaders should give the people good political education and pass through the democratic process in an honest, civil and orderly manner. He also called on people from all walks of life to use wisely their right to vote both in the 2009 legislative and presidential polls. "We must keep in mind that the use of your right to vote will determine the nation's future," he said. The people must benefit from the national movement to get as much information as possible on the 2009 polls, he said. He asked the people to prepeare themselves to receive election officers who would soon come to their houses to register them as voters in the 2009 polls. "I hope you will all play an active role in ensuring the success of the registration process so that registration officers will get accurate and correct data on eligible voters. Don't make mistakes because it is difficult to alter the lists of voters that have been endoresed," he said. The national movement to familiarize the people with the 2009 polls was important because it would facilitate the collection of accurate data on eligible voters, he said."Accurate data on voters are very important because they can prevent the emergence of fictitious voters or ghost voters, encourage voters to use their right to vote, and improve supervision," he said.