Compromise seals election bill<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
High school graduates, suspects, or convicted persons can be
\nnominated as presidential candidates in 2004 when the country
\nwill organize the first direct presidential elections following a
\nconsensus of the nine House factions on those issues on Friday.<\/p>\n
Small parties that did not get any seats in the House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR) could field a presidential candidate by
\nforming coalitions to make at least 5 percent of the total votes.<\/p>\n
Those articles were among the crucial issues in the
\npresidential election bill negotiated by leaders of House
\nfactions from 8 p.m. on Thursday until 3:30 a.m. on Friday at
\nSantika Hotel in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The agreement of the nine factions on those issues ended the
\nprolonged debate on the bill and paved the way for its
\nendorsement, scheduled for Monday.<\/p>\n
The consensus of factions on the crucial issues was somewhat
\nsurprising as in the beginning the opposing factions defended
\ntheir own arguments.<\/p>\n
Golkar Party and the Reform faction, which consists of the
\nNational Mandate Party (PAN) and Justice Party (PK), were among
\nthe factions that proposed that a presidential candidate must
\nhave a university degree.<\/p>\n
The consensus achieved on Friday instantly drew speculations
\nthat there were backroom deals among the factions.<\/p>\n
\"It is the best compromise that we can achieve. If we deny
\nthis, it is a lie,\" Patrialis Akbar of the Reform faction said on
\nthe sidelines of a meeting with Minister of Home Affairs Hari
\nSabarno here on Friday.<\/p>\n
United Development Party (PPP) faction chairman Barlianta
\nHarahap said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) and Golkar played a major role in the consensus.<\/p>\n
\"As long as the consensus does not contradict the
\nConstitution, PPP will support it,\" Barlianta added.<\/p>\n
Barlianta was referring to PDI Perjuangan which insisted on
\nallowing high school graduates to run for the presidency and
\nGolkar which lobbied to allow suspects or convicted persons to
\njoin the presidential race.<\/p>\n
PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri is a high
\nschool graduate, while Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung is
\nconvicted in a Rp 40 billion (US$4.8 million) graft case.<\/p>\n
The House factions also agreed that party leaders who were
\nelected president or vice president were not required to
\nrelinquish his or her structural position in their respective
\nparty.<\/p>\n
The factions agreed that the nomination of presidential
\ncandidates and their running mates must be registered with the
\nGeneral Elections Commission (KPU) no later than seven days after
\nthe results of legislative elections were announced.<\/p>\n
Political parties or coalitions must also submit the program,
\nvision and mission of presidential candidates with the
\nregistration.<\/p>\n
In his report, deputy committee chairman Ferry Mursyidan
\nBaldan said the bill was now composed of 15 chapters and 103
\narticles from the previous 17 chapters and 77 articles in the
\noriginal draft of the home ministry.<\/p>\n
Ferry of Golkar faction added that of the 665 items discussed
\nby the factions, 115 items were settled through negotiation.<\/p>\n
Key Articles in the Bill<\/p>\n
Article 5: (1) Contestants in the presidential election
\nshall be candidates nominated by political parties or coalitions
\nof parties. (2) The announcement of the candidates shall be made
\nat the same time as the submission of the names of would-be
\nlegislators to the General Elections Commission. (3)
\nRegistration of candidates must be made after the results of the
\nlegislative elections are announced. (4) Candidates can only be
\nnominated by parties or coalitions of parties that win 15
\npercent of seats in the House or 20 percent of the total
\nlegislative votes.<\/p>\n
-- Especially for the 2004 election, the parties or group of
\nparties that win at least 3 percent of seats in the House or 5
\npercent of total legislative votes can nominate a candidate.<\/p>\n
Article 31: (1) Candidates and running mates authorized by
\nKPU are not allowed to withdraw their nomination. (2) Otherwise,
\nthe parties or group of parties nominating the candidate are not
\nallowed to nominate another candidate.<\/p>\n
Article 35: (9) Candidates may have chance to present their
\npolitical platform in the second-round of the election,
\nfacilitated by KPU.<\/p>\n
Article 36: (i) Campaigns can be held through public
\ndebate\/debate among candidates.<\/p>",
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