Govt needs to prevent conflicts in 2004 elections<\/p>\n
Ignas Kleden
\nSociologist
\nDirector
\nCenter for East Indonesian Affairs
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The upcoming 2004 elections is a new political venture. It is
\nnew not only in its goal to enable direct election at all levels,
\nbut also in terms of its preparation. The preparatory stages are
\nintended to enable voters to select from among 24 parties --
\nthose supposedly eligible because of administrative fit and
\nfactual readiness.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has
\ntaken care of the administrative verification, whereas the
\nempirical examination of the factual existence and performance of
\na political party has been conducted by the General Elections
\nCommission (KPU).<\/p>\n
The approval of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
\nrecognizes a political party as a legal entity, while the KPU's
\napproval verifies a political party as a contender in the general
\nelections.<\/p>\n
The opening up of the political scene since the 1998 political
\nreform seems to have called many -- or too many -- parties into
\nexistence. Initially, there were no less than 112 political
\nparties registered at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
\nAmong these, only 84 parties had undergone administrative
\nverification, resulting in 50 legally acknowledged parties.<\/p>\n
Among these 50, six parties were automatically considered
\nlegal entities because they had passed the electoral threshold,
\nwhile the remaining 44 had to undergo further administrative
\nverification. Finally, after empirical and factual examination by
\nthe KPU, 24 political parties were declared fit to contest the
\n2004 general elections.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, the exclusion of 26 parties from the general
\nelections has brought about dissatisfaction and protests.
\nHowever, these protests are highly unlikely to change the results
\nof the factual examination.<\/p>\n
The KPU is required to respond to these protests and must make
\nit very clear that the exclusions are justified in accordance
\nwith the rules and regulations of the verification procedure.<\/p>\n
Potential conflicts that might arise from such dissatisfaction
\ncan be reduced, provided that the KPU's response provides a clear
\nexplanation as to why those 26 parties did not meet the minimum
\nrequirements to contest the general elections.<\/p>\n
Questions might arise as to whether these parties met the
\nrequirement of territorial distribution -- the quota of
\nrepresented provinces and regencies -- as well as of demographic
\nrepresentation, as each party branch at the regental level should
\nhave at least 1,000 resident members or a membership comprising
\nat least 1\/1,000 of the regental population.<\/p>\n
The increasing importance of territorial distribution and
\ndemographics in recognizing a political party as a legal entity
\nand bestowing it with the right to contest the general elections
\ncan be a potential source of social conflict.<\/p>\n
In this regard, the potential for conflict seems to stem from
\nthe proliferation of provinces. Provinces across Indonesia now
\nnumber 32, including the most recently established provinces of
\nthe Riau Islands and West Irian Jaya. The Jakarta government
\nseems to assume that the formation of these new provinces has
\nbeen settled without any problems.<\/p>\n
This is obviously an overestimation, because there are still
\nsome problems with the formation of new provinces. The province
\nof West Irian Jaya is a case in point, since the formation of
\nthis province has caused the local people to question the reasons
\nbehind its establishment. There is a brewing tension between
\nlocals supporting and opposing the new province, which certainly
\ninfluences the general attitude of the area toward the central
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
This issue has some consequences for the preparation of the
\nelections. The first problem is that the number of represented
\nprovinces includes those provinces whose formation has raised
\ncontroversy among the locals.<\/p>\n
This, in turn, compounds the difficulties facing the KPU,
\nwhich must establish its provincial and regental branches
\naccording to a set time frame. Establishing such branch offices,
\nhowever, can be construed by the locals as confirming the
\nexistence of the disputed province.<\/p>\n
This problem with the KPU aside, special attention should be
\npaid to local conditions so that preparations for the general
\nelections does not become an occasion for horizontal conflicts
\namong the locals -- who might have different opinions about the
\nnew political set-up while not having sufficient opportunity to
\nspeak their minds. The government, both central and regional,
\nshould give more attention to this issue and settle it before the
\nelections.<\/p>\n
Political innovations introduced in the coming elections will
\npresumably bring with it new problems. It is better to anticipate
\nand mitigate these problems before they escalate into real
\nconflicts. Provided that we are willing to keep our eyes and
\nhearts open to such possibilities, we can settle them without too
\nmany difficulties and without the high costs that entail a social
\nconflict.<\/p>",
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