Further protests against party expulsion mechanism<\/p>\n
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) joined on Tuesday
\nopposition against the plan to revive political parties' power to
\nexpel dissenting members from legislative bodies, arguing the
\nmove would pave the way for authoritarianism by the parties.<\/p>\n
The bill on political parties, being deliberated at the House
\nof Representatives, stipulates that legislators are dismissed
\nfrom the legislative body on which they serve should they be
\nfired by their party for a perceived offense.<\/p>\n
The government is also drafting a new bill on the composition
\nof the House and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which
\nwill require the House to form a disciplinary committee to
\nsupervise the performance and conduct of legislators.<\/p>\n
NGO activists rejected the move to authorize parties to recall
\ntheir representatives from the House, saying it would harm the
\ncountry's young democracy and curb the political rights of
\nindividuals.<\/p>\n
\"Giving more power to parties could prompt an abuse of power,\"
\nDirector of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies
\n(Pusdeham) Kacung Maridjan told a hearing with the House special
\ncommittee debating the bill on political parties.<\/p>\n
He asserted that the dismissal of legislators from the House
\nshould involve their regional constituents.<\/p>\n
The constituents should be allowed to decide whether or not it
\nis necessary to dismiss their representatives from legislative
\nbodies through voting, he added.<\/p>\n
\"The recall mechanism, as regulated in Article 11, could be
\nunderstood if our elections adopted a purely proportional
\nrepresentation system.<\/p>\n
\"But because the elections will use a combination of
\nproportional and district systems, the removal of House members
\nusing such a mechanism is incorrect,\" Kacung said.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Parliament Watch (Parwi) shared the view, saying
\nparties should not be empowered to unseat their legislators
\nmerely by removing them from the political group.<\/p>\n
However, it underscored that the parties should require
\napproval of the House to recall their non-conforming
\nrepresentatives there.<\/p>\n
Similarly, political analysts have warned that authorizing
\nparties to dismiss their members in legislative bodies would be
\ntantamount to the repressive move adopted by Soeharto's
\nauthoritarian regime in the past.<\/p>\n
They said that there should be no mechanism to fire
\nlegislators unless they have been found guilty of committing a
\ncriminal offense.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/further-protests-against-party-expulsion-mechanism-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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