House vows to endorse election bill today<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives is determined to bring the election
\nbill to a plenary meeting for endorsement on Tuesday despite some
\ncontentious issues.<\/p>\n
Factions in the special committee debating the bill have
\nexpressed their readiness to settle the unsolved issues through
\nvoting in the plenary session, since they and the government are
\nstill at odds over the contentious issues.<\/p>\n
The contentious issues include the representation of women in
\nthe legislature, the prohibiting of government officials to
\ncampaign for any political party and the banning of staging
\nelection campaigns on university campuses.<\/p>\n
\"Although factions failed to reach a consensus on the
\ncontentious issues, the committee will go ahead with its plan to
\nbring the bill to a plenary meeting to be endorsed,\" Agustin
\nTeras Narang, chairman of the special committee, said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Leaders of General Elections Commission (KPU) in charge of
\norganizing elections have repeatedly urged legislators to speed
\nup the deliberation of the bill, otherwise any delay in the
\nbill's endorsement would disrupt the staging of the 2004 general
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Teras headed two days of meetings with home minister Hari
\nSabarno representing the government to try to resolve the
\ncontentious issues.<\/p>\n
Following the meetings, which took place at a hotel in Jakarta
\nand the House building, nine factions in the special committee
\nreached a consensus on several issues, including the long debated
\nproblem on electorate areas.<\/p>\n
Golkar, the second largest faction in the House, insisted
\npreviously on making regencies or municipalities electorate areas
\nwhile the other factions wanted provinces or parts of a province
\nas an electorate area.<\/p>\n
\"After the meetings, Golkar eventually agree to accept other
\nfactions' proposal,\" said Firman Jaya Daeli of the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).<\/p>\n
The committee also agreed that the number of House seats would
\nbe set at 550, an increase of 50 from the current composition.
\nThe increase was made apparently to accommodate the rising number
\nof regencies following the formation of more than 100 regencies
\nover the last three years.<\/p>\n
The special committee has the right to reach a consensus on
\nthe crucial issue, but its members and the government were
\ntrapped in official requirements for legislator candidates so
\nthat the issue was left unresolved.<\/p>\n
Legislators were divided over the rule that legislator
\ncandidates could not be former members of the defunct Indonesian
\nCommunist Party (PKI) or affiliated organizations.<\/p>\n
Eight factions, including Golkar, National Awakening Party
\n(PKB) and United Development Party (PPP), defended the inclusion
\nof the controversial article while PDI Perjuangan, which is
\nchaired by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, wanted to drop it.<\/p>\n
The official version of the Sept. 30, 1965 aborted coup that
\nwas blamed on the PKI has been questioned following the collapse
\nof president Soeharto's regime in May 1998, with historians and
\npoliticians calling for a review of Indonesian history books.<\/p>\n
PDI Perjuangan spokesman Zaenal Arifin emphasized that the
\narticle should be dropped in respect of human rights.<\/p>\n
According to Zaenal, the removal of this article would not
\nnecessarily mean that Indonesian people would forget how the PKI
\nattempted to overthrow a legitimate government.<\/p>\n
The factions in the special committee were also divided on
\nwhether state officials should be banned from campaigning or not.<\/p>\n
Many government officials, including the President, the Vice
\nPresident and many ministers, are members of political parties.<\/p>\n
The factions were also at odds over the granting of a
\npercentage of House seats to women legislators.<\/p>\n
Golkar, PPP, PKB, KKI and Reform factions supported the clause
\nwhile PDI Perjuangan, PBB, military\/police and PDU factions
\nopposed it.<\/p>\n
\"Each political party will nominate its best candidates. This
\nis not about a quota for women but about quality,\" said PDU
\nspokesman Sayuti Rahawarin.<\/p>\n
A number of women activists attending the meeting instantly
\nunfurled banners reading: \"Rejecting the quota of 30 percent for
\nwomen legislators is equal to rejecting democratization.\"<\/p>",
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