... and more changes needed<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The need to introduce changes is widely accepted
\nand the current House of Representatives (DPR) has already made
\nthe first tentative steps by removing one whole wing of
\nconfusion\/conflict in management by determining that the KPU may
\nnot include people with partisan interests.<\/p>\n
The process of selecting new KPU members is now in train with
\nthe government completing its duty of providing the DPR with 22
\nnames of potential members. The DPR will then select 11 of these
\npeople to be the new commissioners.<\/p>\n
More substantial changes to electoral management are still to
\nbe made.<\/p>\n
As noted above, one pathway of confusion, that is from the
\nparties, has now been removed, with the parties now liberated
\nfrom having to help manage the elections. The second pathway of
\nconfusion, that is the government, remains unchanged.<\/p>\n
The new KPU will still oversee staff that are not fully
\naccountable to it. Indeed the leaders of that secretariat will
\ncontinue to be accountable professionally to the government, not
\nthe KPU.<\/p>\n
Straightening out the lines of accountability (chains of
\ncommand) at the national level should be followed down to the
\npolling station level. The national leaders of the KPU should
\nknow what is happening at the lowest levels. They should also be
\nable to receive feedback about how their policies are operating
\nlocally. This could not happen last year.<\/p>\n
To be fully effective, an independent and nonpartisan KPU must
\nhave the power to exercise authority over political players,
\nincluding candidates, parties, monitors, voters and party
\nsympathizers. To do so requires a strong and clear legal base of
\nauthority for the KPU to operate. This must also include clear
\nbounds of authority.<\/p>\n
As an attempt to establish a KPU that is truly independent
\nboth in its membership as well as in its structure, I would
\nsuggest a significantly simplified alternative structure (in
\nDiagram II) for an improved KPU for the future.<\/p>\n
First of all, there should be a clear chain of command within
\nthe structure of the entire election process from the central
\nlevel to the polling station to avoid dualism\/conflict\/confusion
\nof responsibility from a structural as well as personnel or
\nprofessional point of view.<\/p>\n
Second, the election commission at the national level is
\ncalled the General Election Commission (KPU Pusat) and at
\nprovincial, district\/city, subdistrict, village level, as the
\nprovincial level KPU (KPU Daerah), district\/town level election
\ncommittee (panitia pemilu kabupaten\/kota), subdistrict committee
\n(panitia pemilu kecamatan) and village level committee (panitia
\npemilu desa) respectively. The village committees would oversee
\npolling stations within their boundaries.<\/p>\n
Third, secretariats at each level are fully responsible to the
\nKPU, Provincial Election Commission (KPUD) and committees in
\ntheir areas.<\/p>\n
Fourth, membership of the KPU is made up of 11 nonpartisan
\nacademics, intellectuals and religious figures who have no
\npolitical affiliation to any political party or connection with
\nthe government bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
Fifth, while candidates for KPU membership may be nominated by
\nthe president, they should be based on recommendations from the
\nsociety and selected by the Supreme Court, as the latter is the
\nhighest judicial office which is free from any party or
\ngovernment interests. The selection process can be based on
\nstandards of performance (criteria) which are determined by the
\nDPR.<\/p>\n
Sixth, membership of the provincial KPU should consist of nine
\npeople nominated by the governor, selected by the High Court
\nbased on standards of performance determined by the provincial
\nlevel DPR.<\/p>\n
Seventh, membership of the KPU at the district\/town level
\nshould consist of five people, nominated by the district head
\nbased on standards of performance determined by the district
\nlevel DPR.<\/p>\n
Eighth, the personnel of the secretariat of the KPU at each
\nlevel should come from nonparty people, who may be seconded from
\nthe local governments, based on consultations between the
\nKPU\/committees and local government. This is to ensure local
\ngovernment operations are not disrupted during the election
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
The organizational structure and mechanism of the election
\ncommission described above should ideally be implemented within a
\ndistrict election system for the DPR, with the district\/city
\nrepresenting the basis for establishing electoral districts.<\/p>\n
However, to provide equal voting rights to all citizens, small
\nadministrative districts will need to be consolidated to produce
\nelectoral districts of similar population size, while large
\ndistricts will need to be divided into several districts.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, there should be additional funds for the KPU
\nsecretariat as they are not civil servants.<\/p>\n
While the next elections are not scheduled until 2004, the
\ntime to begin developing an improved electoral system and a more
\nprofessional and competent election management system is now.<\/p>\n
If we wait until too late, we will as usual fall into the trap
\nof emergency and short term measures which lack a strong basis
\nfor producing a good outcome.<\/p>\n
The other trap in delaying consideration of these changes is,
\nof course, that those who benefit from the current system will be
\nin the happy position of saying that there is no time to make the
\nproper changes and that the people (sic!) won't be ready for the
\nchanges.<\/p>\n
For the first time in our history we now have an opportunity
\nas a society to begin to really think carefully about the kind of
\nelectoral system that best suits our societies dynamics.<\/p>\n
This must also be considered against a background of an
\nexpected emergence of a House of Regions to complement the House
\nof Representatives to create a genuine bicameral parliamentary
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
This is a profoundly important and historic development, and
\none which provides a further opportunity for fixing up our
\ncurrent and eccentric electoral system.<\/p>",
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