House clears early hurdle to fair general elections<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives settled on Tuesday the disputes
\nmarking its marathon deliberation of the crucial election bill,
\ndismissing fears of a delay in the general election scheduled for
\nnext year.<\/p>\n
In an unusual manner, the House legislators resolved their
\ndifferences in opinion through an open vote on eight articles,
\nincluding one that allows public officials -- ranging from the
\npresident to state enterprise executives -- to campaign for their
\nrespective parties.<\/p>\n
The newly approved election bill was the second piece of
\nlegislation passed required for the 2004 general election
\nfollowing the endorsement of the political party bill that has
\nbeen enacted into Law No. 31\/2002.<\/p>\n
The House will soon regroup to deliberate the remaining two
\nbills on the composition of the legislative bodies and on the
\ndirect election of president and vice president.<\/p>\n
The House only recently received the bill on direct
\npresidential elections and has already formed a special committee
\nto deliberate the bill on the composition of legislative bodies.<\/p>\n
Tuesday's approval of the election bill came just a week after
\nthe General Elections Commission (KPU) reissued a warning that a
\ndelay in deliberation could disrupt its preparations for the
\nupcoming elections, the second to be held in the reform era.<\/p>\n
The House had been slated to complete the debate early in
\nJanuary.<\/p>\n
\"We had to complete this deliberation today for the sake of
\nlegal certainty, which will help us prepare for the elections
\nnext year,\" said legislator Ahmad Farhan Hamid, who was on the
\nspecial committee debating the bill.<\/p>\n
Article 75 on public officials' involvement in election
\ncampaigns created the toughest tug-of-war, which pitted factions
\nrepresenting the major political parties -- the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the Golkar Party,
\nthe United Development Party (PPP) and the Crescent Star Party
\n(PBB) -- on one side in favor of officials campaigning against
\nthe remaining of factions on the other side.<\/p>\n
The four parties have vested interests in making the House
\nallow public officials to campaign, due to the fact that
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri chairs PDI Perjuangan, Vice
\nPresident Hamzah Haz heads PPP and that the four parties share
\nministerial posts in the Cabinet and other positions in the
\nexecutive and judiciary branches.<\/p>\n
These public officials are banned from using state facilities
\nand have to take unpaid leave while serving their party
\ninterests. Commitment to their parties must not affect the
\nrunning of government either.<\/p>\n
\"We will further regulate this issue through a presidential
\ndecree or just leave it to the KPU,\" Minister of Home Affairs
\nHari Sabarno, who represented the government, said at the end of
\nthe House session late at night.<\/p>\n
Hari was commenting on the possibility of all government
\nofficials taking leave en masse to campaign for their respective
\nparties.<\/p>\n
The House had earlier evaded a vote to reach agreement on
\nthree issues, namely a 30 percent quota for women legislative
\ncandidates, the president's status as the state official
\naccountable for the organization of elections and the ban imposed
\non a convicted felon from running for a legislative seat.<\/p>\n
Hari looked impatient when the House failed to reach a
\nconsensus on certain issues.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot let the debate last to the end of this year,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Legislator Asnawi Latif from the United Ummat Sovereignty
\nfaction (F-PDU) also expressed disappointment, saying that the
\ndebate over whether state officials should be allowed to campaign
\nhad consumed too much time.<\/p>\n
In their final view, spokespersons of all nine factions hailed
\nthe adoption of a proportional electoral system and an open-list
\nof candidates, which requires voters to directly choose a
\npolitical party as well as candidates.<\/p>\n
\"This will ensure voters pick legislators who really represent
\nthe people,\" said Samuel Koto of the Reform faction.<\/p>\n
Articles approved through voting<\/p>\n
1. Article 75: State officials are allowed to campaign providing
\nthey take unpaid leave and do not use state facilities.<\/p>\n
2. Article 84: Voters perforate party symbols as well as
\ncandidate names or photos on ballot papers.<\/p>\n
3. Article 93: Votes are valid if ballot papers are signed by
\npolling booth chiefs, and the boxes have been perforated
\ncorrectly.<\/p>\n
4. Article 107: Candidates are selected based on rank.<\/p>\n
5. Article 143: Political parties failing to pass the 2 percent
\nelectoral threshold are not allowed to contest the next elections
\nunless they merge with other parties.<\/p>\n
6. Article 144: Members of the General Elections Commission
\nelected under Law No. 4\/2000 carry out their duties until March
\n2006.<\/p>\n
7. Elucidation on Article 48: One seat accounts for between
\n325,000 and 425,000 votes.<\/p>\n
8. Elucidation on Article 74: Campaigns on campuses must first be
\napproved by university rectors.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-clears-early-hurdle-to-fair-general-elections-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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