ABRI defends major presence in the House<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Despite growing public calls for the Armed
\nForces' (ABRI) presence in the House of Representatives to be
\nbrought to an end, the military implored on Friday to be allowed
\n55 seats in the legislature.<\/p>\n
During a session of the House special committee deliberating
\nthe political bills, the ABRI faction's spokesman on the
\ncommittee, Budi Harsono, proposed a reduction of 20 seats from
\nthe current allocation of 75.<\/p>\n
He defended the number, saying that the Armed Forces still
\nwanted to make a strong, positive contribution to the nation.<\/p>\n
\"ABRI proposes 55 seats in the hope that it can maintain its
\nstrong input in the House,\" Budi said.<\/p>\n
The House is currently deliberating bills which would include
\nsetting the number of seats allocated to the Armed Forces faction
\nand the overall size of the House and People's Consultative
\nAssembly (MPR).<\/p>\n
Armed Forces members do not vote in general elections but are
\nallocated representatives in the 500-member House.<\/p>\n
However, since president Suharto resigned in May, there have
\nbeen feverish calls for the Armed Forces to lose their right to
\nHouse seats.<\/p>\n
A new Assembly decree stipulates that the role of the Armed
\nForces will gradually be reduced over time.<\/p>\n
The dominant Golkar faction in the House has proposed ABRI be
\ngiven 25 seats while the United Development Party (PPP) has
\ncalled for just 10.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction said it would
\nreveal its stand on this issue in next week's deliberation of the
\npolitical bills.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces faction's call for 55 seats is in line with
\nthe bill submitted by the government.<\/p>\n
Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid told journalists after
\nThursday's session that despite having put forward the proposal,
\nthe government would leave the House to decide the issue.<\/p>\n
\"Let the House's working committee make a decision on it. The
\ngovernment will respect the committee's decision,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The special commission failed to reach an agreement and
\neventually agreed to defer the issue to the working committee.<\/p>\n
The draft bill put forward by the government proposes that the
\nnext House should comprise 550 members while the Assembly will
\nconsist of all House members plus an additional 150 appointed
\nrepresentatives.<\/p>\n
The current MPR has 1,000 members.<\/p>\n
The deliberations also failed to break an impasse over the
\nproposal that the Assembly should meet annually instead of the
\ncurrent quinquennial schedule.<\/p>\n
All factions except Golkar appeared willing to accept the
\nidea.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Home Affair's director general of
\nadministration and regional autonomy, Ryaas Rasyid, said the
\ngovernment had proposed an annual meeting with the aim of further
\nempowering the highest legislative body.<\/p>\n
\"At the least, the annual MPR meeting would be a warning stick
\nfor the government that it is subordinate to MPR,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"(But) It's no problem for the government if the House objects
\nto empower the Assembly and other state institutions,\" he
\nquipped.<\/p>\n
Sociopolitical<\/p>\n
Political observer Arbi Sanit on Friday called for the
\ndissolution of the sociopolitical affairs directorate in the
\nbureaucracy and the neutrality of the Armed Forces in order to
\nhelp make the next general election democratic, fair and free.<\/p>\n
Speaking here during a round-table discussion on election
\nmonitoring, Arbi maintained that the sociopolitical affairs
\ndepartment in the bureaucracy and the military in the provinces
\ndominated the electoral process by isolating political parties
\nand pressing voters to vote a particular way.<\/p>\n
\"The directorate of sociopolitical affairs in the Ministry of
\nHome Affairs and its structures in provincial, regency and
\ndistrict administrations should be dissolved because they were
\nestablished by the New Order regime to maintain the status quo,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The military, especially military districts should be barred
\nfrom participating in the electoral process to ensure that they
\nremained neutral, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The military's main task is to maintain security, not to
\nintimidate voters,\" he charged. (rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/abri-defends-major-presence-in-the-house-1447893297",
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